National Highways trialling graphene-enhanced asphalt

The surface was laid on the A12 northbound between Hatfield Peverel and Witham, Essex in mid-August and incorporates Gipave, a proprietary graphene-enhanced polymeric additive that acts as a reinforcement to the bitumen film surrounding aggregates in asphalt. It contained 40 per cent reclaimed asphalt - the highest level ever used in the UK for asphalt with graphene-enhanced polymeric modifier. 

In a statement, Umesh Parajuli, project sponsor and senior pavement advisor at National Highways said: "This trial of graphene-enhanced asphalt supports our 2040 net zero target for construction and maintenance and could provide significant whole-life benefits, improving the service life of both local and national networks.”

Previous studies have shown Gipave has improved stiffness and resistance to rutting compared to conventional asphalt while improving fatigue endurance. The performance of the material on the A12 will be monitored over several years.

This trial is part of a National Highways research project under SPaTS 2 which is testing several emerging, low carbon asphalt products. The trial is adopting hot and warm mix technologies for comparison studies and is being conducted with industry partners Eurovia, Jean Lefebvre (UK), AtkinsRéalis, Iterchimica and Directa Plus.