Joined-Up Thinking

in action

Tensar’s latest

highways concept

set to change the

way we think

INSIDE

Keeping you up-to-date with all the latest news

The best way to create high performance highways Page 2

Why Britain's roads need Joined-Up Thinking Page 12

Keep roads and budgets in better shapePage 4

More thanJust a road!Page 6

Delays from roadworks; the pothole problem; new infrastructure vs budget cuts… the state of Britain’s roads is constantly in the spotlight. So it’s more important than ever to find value-engineered solutions – such as Tensar Road Technology.

Tensar Road Technology brings Joined-Up Thinking to Britain’s highway.Incorporating revolutionary stabilisation geogrids and asphalt interlayers, it brings together mechanical stabilisation of pavements and asphalt reinforcement solutions to introduce a whole new way of thinking about road design and repair.

Tensar Road Technology looks at the bigger picture, takes a longer term view and can optimise performance while reducing both initial and whole-life costs. Also, it has been proven in highways projects across the world.

Together with the launch of the latest Tensar pavement software, Tensar Road Technology puts everything in place to help you achieve the necessary performance and efficiency from every road project, whether it’s new-build or refurbishment.

The best way to create high performance highways…

Welcome…to the first issue of Tensar Road Technology, a periodical update on the latest thinking in highways engineering. We’ll be looking at new technology, significant projects and what’s in the news, as well as quizzing industry experts – and that’s just in the next few pages! The idea is to get everyone talking about ways we can best improve Britain’s roads – so we welcome your feedback and thoughts for future issues.

Just use the contact details on the back cover, we’d love to hear from you!

Tim OliverVice President of Global Application Technology

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New road New road constructionconstruction

Whether you’re working on new road infrastructure or a programme of ongoing maintenance, Tensar Road Technology can help you optimise performance. Here’s how it all comes together...

What makes Tensar Road Technology so different from traditional methods? Simple: innovative geogrids and asphalt interlayers. Incorporating them into both a new road design and repaired areas of older highways makes for improved performance in both the short and long term.

In new construction, the Tensar Spectra Pavement Optimisation System uses Tensar TriAx geogrids. This allows engineers to benefit from improved performance and design the project to reduce the thickness of both asphalt and unbound layers, or to increase pavement life and potential traffic load without increasing layer thickness.

An in-depth look at how An in-depth look at how to improve road-building to improve road-building and maintenance.and maintenance.

TECHNICAL

Maximising maintenance budgetsMaximising maintenance budgets

For roads in need of repair, Tensar Asphalt Reinforcement places the geogrid within the asphalt layer, where it absorbs traffic induced strain. By doing so, it can either increase the fatigue life performance or allow the asphalt thickness to be reduced to achieve equivalent performance, resisting both reflective and fatigue cracking.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH

TENSAR SPECTRA PAVEMENT OPTIMISATION

Bringing you Bringing you Tensar Road Tensar Road TechnologyTechnology

In essence, using innovative geogrids and asphalt interlayers as part of the design Tensar Road Technology gives you the opportunity to add value to your design – together with the flexibility to improve performance whichever way you choose.

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TriAx®

Glasstex AR-GN

The hidden component that keeps roads and budgets in better shape.Right at the core of Tensar Road Technology is our specialist subject – geogrids. But how exactly do they work? And which type is best for which application? Here’s a brief overview.

Tensar Road Technology brings Joined-Up Thinking to Britain’s highways. Incorporating revolutionary stabilisation geogrids and asphalt interlayers, it brings together pavement optimisation and asphalt reinforcement systems to introduce a whole new way of thinking about road design and repair.

Tensar’s timeline of innovation.1979

The original geogrid invented by Dr Brian Mercer at Netlon Ltd in the

UK and the word 'geogrid' is adopted by the civil engineering industry

1984The first international conference dedicated

to geogrid research and innovation held at the Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1992US Army Corp of Engineers carry out full scale

stabilisation testing and find Tensar biaxial geogrids dramatically outperform competitive alternatives

1981Greenwich Peninsular Link Road completed with multiple MSLs -

first use of biaxial grids in a public highways agency project

1985Tensar uniaxial geogrids

gain BBA certification for use in UK Highways structures

2002Tensar named one of the 50 most innovative small

businesses in the U.S. by Inc Magazine

Improving the structural performance of whole pavementsThe basic principle behind Tensar’s geogrids is really very simple: laid within or under a granular layer, the interlocking mechanism of the geogrid confines the aggregate in place to create a stiff composite structure – the TriAx MSL (Mechanically Stabilised Layer).

The revolutionary TriAx geogrid uses a hexagonal structure with triangular apertures to offer multi-directional stiffness with near isotropic tensile properties through 360º. In other words, it offers exceptional aggregate confinement and outperforms even our best biaxial grid.

Reinforcing road repairs Reinforcing interlayers have long been used in road maintenance and resurfacing.

Tensar's AR-GN has a large aperture used typically for structural base and binder course applications. Tensar's AR-GNS has a smaller aperture for structural use under binder and surface course layers. They are both high profile composite interlayers comprising a polypropylene geogrid thermally bonded to a paving grade backing fabric. The fabric backing facilitates installation and provides a long-term sealing effect -once saturated with bitumen. Owing to the 3-dimensional geometry of the geogrid, the new asphalt layer is mechanically interlocked into the geogrid’s apertures, thus providing reinforcement, stress relief and sealing functions.

Tensar's Glasstex is a low profile composite interlayer comprising a grid of glass filament bundles stitch bonded to a non-woven paving grade fabric. The high modulus glass filaments provide high absorption of stress, with increased strength at low strains. After being saturated with bitumen the fabric performs a sealing function. Glasstex provides all three primary fuctions of reinforcement, stress relief and sealing.

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BACKGROUND

There’s more to Tensar Road Technology than just geogrids. With over 30 years’ experience across the globe, Tensar offers the in-depth experience to offer a complete, value-engineered solution to any highways project – and integral to that is our latest design software package.

Based on our extensive knowledge and research into the trafficking performance of Tensar MSLs incorporating TriAx, this invaluable tool produces designs for both surfaced and unsurfaced roads. It gives you the flexibility to reduce road layer thickness with a maintained traffic level, increase traffic capacity without increasing costs or combine thickness reduction and increased traffic capacity to produce the best value design possible.

It’s supported by full training and is very easy to use…and best of all, it’s absolutely free!

TensarPave7 is here…the future TensarPave7 is here…the future of road software has arrived.of road software has arrived.

20072007Tensar TriAx launched – wins

NCE Innovation Award at the UK’s CIVILS 2007

20152015First use of Tensar Spectra

Pavement Optimisation System on a major UK Highways project

at Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme

20102010TriAx wins

Better Roads Award in the USA

20132013Tensar/Netlon technology named as a Great British

Innovation in a national UK poll

20162016Tensar Road Technology launched, bringing all the

company’s highways expertise together under one banner

20122012Stabilisation function

recognised with the issue of a European Technical Approval

(ETA) for TriAx geogrids

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More than just a road!

FARRRS – the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme – is a major infrastructure project for the South Yorkshire region.

A three-mile stretch of road linking the south of Doncaster with the motorway network will create a development corridor that includes the largest inland port in the UK, 5,000 new homes and Doncaster-Sheffield's Robin Hood Airport.

This £56million project has brought together three major developers – Peel Group, Verdion and Harworth Estates – working as a team with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, with design by Mott MacDonald and construction by Carillion.

The FARRRS project will act as a wider gateway to the Sheffield City Region, opening up 1million sq ft of business space, 5,000 new homes and creating 24,000 new jobs by 2030.

An alternative road design

As with any project on this scale though, it was essential to keep costs under close control – so Doncaster Council’s engineers looked to Tensar for an alternative road design that would reduce construction costs while extending the road service life.

The original proposal was for a conventional thick pavement design, with an average supporting CBR between 3% and 5%. Lime/cement stabilisation was discounted at an early stage, so a best value-engineered solution was needed.

Tensar’s Spectra Pavement Optimisation System produced a much more economical performance based design that avoided having to treat (or excavate and replace) the underlying subgrade. Whereas conventional schemes treat the foundations and asphalt pavement separately, Tensar looked at the pavement as a whole to offer a better solution.

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CASE STUDY 1

The key is TriAx

TriAx geogrid was installed under the road’s granular sub-base, creating a mechanically stabilised layer. This allowed both the granular and asphalt thickness to be reduced, slimming down the total pavement thickness by 26% – which meant 7,000 tonnes less pavement materials were needed, also reducing construction vehicle movements and CO

2 emissions.

In total, initial construction costs were reduced by an impressive £500,000; moreover, the estimated improvement in road service life is around 60%, thereby also reducing whole life costs substantially.

Phase 1 of FARRRS, from Junction 3 of the M18 to the A638 at Parrotts Corner, opened in February 2016 and has been christened the Great Yorkshire Way. Phase 2 will provide the final one-mile link to Doncaster-Sheffield Airport and is scheduled for completion in late 2017.

“ “ By working with Tensar and using the Spectra Pavement By working with Tensar and using the Spectra Pavement Optimisation System on our project it was possible to Optimisation System on our project it was possible to substantially reduce the amount of materials required substantially reduce the amount of materials required and as a result an estimated £500,000 could be saved.”and as a result an estimated £500,000 could be saved.”Lee Tinkler, Project Director North for Carrillion Construction Services

In numbers:

Length of road built 3 miles

Construction workforce 175

Road surfacing laid 45,000 tonnes

Construction time 700 days

Reduction in pavement thickness 26%

Increase in pavement life 60%

Reduction in pavement materials 7,000 tonnes

Construction costs saved £500,000

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Tensar Road Technology across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Over the last 36 years we’ve supplied geogrid to multiple projects in countries across the world…here are just a few of our more significant highways projects:

UK & IRELAND

DoncasterFinningley & Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS) used Tensar’s Spectra Pavement Optimisation system to reduce road thickness 26%, save £500,000 in construction costs and extend service life by an average 60%.

SleafordSpectra Pavement Optimisation design used for access roads to new household waste recycling centre, mitigating differential settlement on very soft ground, reducing pavement thickness by 64% and costs by 75%.

LeicesterA busy city centre bus route, Stephenson Drive, repaired using Tensar Glasstex as a stress absorbing membrane interlayer (SAMI) to help dissipate stress from potential movement and prevent reflective cracking, asphalt fatigue and rutting re-occurring.

GarstangTensar Spectra system used to lower both aggregate and asphalt costs in car park of Myerscough College’s veterinary centre, with overall pavement thickness reduced by 30% and estimated material cost savings of £11,000.

DublinTensar AR-G composite grid installed as part of a complete upgrade to Ballymount Avenue, helping mitigate potential reflective cracking along joint of old and new widened carriageway and extend design life.

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WORLDWIDETensar Road Technology across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

POLAND

Droga DW218Tensar TriAx used as part of the Spectra Pavement Optimisation System delivered an overall pavement design that met the project priorities in the most economical way: enabling the thickness of asphalt to be reduced whilst also shortening the construction programme to enable the road to re-open just two weeks after being closed for reconstruction work.

GERMANY

UsedomIncreased traffic levels on the busy B110 route from Rostock to Usedom led to fatigue cracking. Tensar Glasstex P100 composite geogrid was used during renovation to extend service life and reduce maintenance costs.

National Road No 5Laying Tensar AR-G asphalt interlayer eliminated or significantly slowed the progress of cracking at the interface between old and widened. Pavement during upgrade of one of North Poland’s major highways.

SOUTH AFRICA

BloemfonteinTo minimise disruption on busy Harvey Road and Hanger Street, Tensar TriAx geogrids allowed re-use of existing pavement materials without disturbing shallow services and utilities and reduced construction time by 80%.

RUSSIA

Sochi Winter OlympicsAccess roads were required into the main Winter Olympic Stadium area in the Imeretinskaya Valley. In the weakest section, one layer of TriAx geogrid was used in the embankment foundation to gain access to the site and a second layer was used in the sub-base of the road to improve lifetime performance.

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The stretch of M4 motorway between Junctions 5 and 6 at Datchet is one of the busiest in the UK, being one of the main access routes into London.

So when it came time to resurface the main carriageway in 2012 and extend the road’s working life, time was of the essence. With full road and lane closures necessary, most of the work would have to be done at night to minimise disruption – so a quick and effective solution was needed.

The road surface had been subject to reflective cracking originating in the cracked concrete foundation, so extending the pavement life would mean mitigating the effects of movement beneath.

Unbeatable support!The M4 resurfacing project was as much about technical expertise and planning as asphalt reinforcement.

“ I know I don’t need to worry about reflective cracking happening here again.”Ray Wicks, Foster Contracting

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CASE STUDY 2

How it was doneThe method involved initially planing the concrete layer down by 100mm, carrying out Type F inlaid crack repairs where needed then spraying a bond coat of 160/220 pen bitumen from a tanker, which was immediately overlaid with the Glasstex.

The bond coat securely holds the interlayer in place, and as the asphalt is laid the heat from the overlay draws the suspended bitumen through the Glasstex, eliminating the need for a tack coat and saving time, cost and adding a waterproofing layer to the system.

The instant break time of the 160/220 pen bitumen bond coat enabled rapid installation of the final 75mm AC 14 EME binder and the surface course system – which in turn allowed the whole 2.7km length of motorway to be resurfaced within a month.

SAMI means extended life The proposal involved Tensar’s Glasstex P100 composite grid being specified as part of a Stress Absorbing Membrane Interlayer (SAMI) solution, designed to prevent reflective cracking.

With the work carried out by Foster Contracting – who have developed plant specifically for the rapid laying of Glasstex – the composite geogrid would be an interlayer between the substrate and asphalt, thereby dissipating strain from the potential movement of the concrete and limiting mechanical stresses on the asphalt.

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Tensar working in partnership with Foster Contracting Ltd.

Why Britain’s road network needs

Joined-UpThinking

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Joined-Up Thinking

Britain’s roads have taken a hammering. While the growth of car ownership has mushroomed – there are now a staggering 35.6million vehicles licensed to use UK roads – years of underinvestment in highways maintenance and infrastructure have left them in a sorry state.

Faced with a £12billion repair backlog in the local road network alone, the Government recently announced their own change in thinking – a serious reinvestment in highways.

From 2020, all revenue from excise duty will be spent on maintaining and developing UK roads; Highways England have a £6billion budget to repave 80% of the strategic road network over the next 5 years; and road projects are at the centre of the National Infrastructure Plan that details some £383billion-worth of investment.

But while the announcement of such investment is all well and good, the industry will be expected to make best use of the technology available to create value-engineered solutions to building new roads and bringing existing ones up to scratch – not least to meet the Construction 2025 strategy (see below).

“We need to encourage ingenuity to find new solutions that meet the infrastructure needs”, says Adrian Coy, local authorities director at URS and vice president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). “The Highways Agency is encouraging consultants, contractors and wider supply chains to work collaboratively to harness innovation that will deliver quality outcomes faster and more cost effectively.”

In other words, we need joined-up thinking. And Joined-up Thinking is what Tensar Road Technology is all about: using the benefits of our innovative geogrids to deliver road solutions that reduce costs both financially and environmentally, while extending working life and reducing maintenance in the long-term.

*Information is correct as of April 2016

It’s long been a subject of debate, particularly amongst It’s long been a subject of debate, particularly amongst UK motorists. But the fact is, it’s time to rethink how we UK motorists. But the fact is, it’s time to rethink how we improve our roads.improve our roads.

35.6million vehicles 35.6million vehicles licensed to use UK roadslicensed to use UK roads

Construction 2025: changing the way we think.In 2013, the Government recognised the importance of construction to the long-term success of the British economy by publishing the Construction 2025 strategy, setting out its long-term vision for ‘how industry and Government will work together to put Britain at the forefront of global construction’.

The strategy set out ambitious targets for the industry to meet by 2025:

• 33% lower costs33% lower costs – reducing both initial cost of construction and whole life cost of assets

• 50% faster delivery50% faster delivery – reducing overall time from inception to completion for new build and refurbished assets

• 50% lower emissions50% lower emissions – reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment

• 50% improvement in exports 50% improvement in exports – reducing the trade gap between total exports and total imports for construction products and materials

These ambitious targets won’t be met by continuing to do what we’ve always done. A step change in thinking is needed, a different way of looking at every project to achieve true value-engineering. Which is exactly the approach Tensar Road Technology takes.

£12bn£12bnbacklog in local road repairsbacklog in local road repairs

20202020The date from The date from which all excise which all excise duty revenue will duty revenue will be spent on roadsbe spent on roads

8080%%of strategic roads to be of strategic roads to be repaved in the next 5 yearsrepaved in the next 5 years

£6bn£6bnHighways England have Highways England have to spend on maintenanceto spend on maintenance

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Ask anyone who’s worked with Tensar, and they’ll tell you the real value comes not just from superior products but from our unrivalled technical support.

As you’d expect, that extends to Tensar Road Technology too. Our design and technical support teams are among the best in the business – experienced professionals able to help with everything from conceptual designs and budgeting to a full design and supply package.

Two of the key members of our dedicated Highways Team are Craig Andrews and Tony Roe. Both are not only conversant with the latest developments, but extremely active and well-known within the industry.

Craig Andrews, Highways Manager Northern UK & Ireland

Craig has spent his entire career in highways, spending 18 years with Lincolnshire County Council's Highways Design Consultancy before joining Tensar in 2006. He is an Incorporated Engineer IEng AMICE, a Member of the IAT, a Fellow of the IHE and sits on various national committees and forums associated with UK roads and pavements.

Say Hito the Tensar Highways Team.

Tony Roe, Highways Manager Southern UK

Tony graduated from the University of Johannesburg with a NHD in Civil Engineering in 1992, and worked in South Africa before joining Tensar in 2008. He is a member of ICE and the UK Chapter of IGS, and working alongside Craig he will support the UK Highways supply chain, specifically with full depth pavement construction, full/part depth reconstruction, rehabilitation and widening.

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Tony RoeHighways Manager

Southern UK

Craig AndrewsHighways Manager

Northern UK & Ireland

MEET THE GUYS

How do you see the UK highways industry changing over the next few years?

Craig:Craig: Governments see infrastructure as central to long-term growth; in the UK, for example, £460billion is set to be spent between 2010 and 2020. Alongside that, there’s an increasing drive for value for money and minimal environmental impact.

Tony:Tony: Don’t forget Construction 2025 too, and its targets for the UK to lead the world in research and innovation. Delivering against those goals require a fundamental change in thinking.

You mean encouraging better use of innovation?

Tony:Tony: Yes, we’ve seen very piecemeal adoption of innovation and technologies, and this has to accelerate to meet the government’s new vision of 2025. Innovation is the key – looking at things differently, rather than the way they’ve always been done.

Craig:Craig: Engineers always want to mitigate risk. But sometimes meeting all the criteria is difficult – so a different approach is needed. The Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme, for instance, looks for 30% savings in local highway authority maintenance. That’s achievable, but it demands a change in mindset.

Is such a change going to be hard to achieve?

Craig:Craig: Part of the problem is that design codes and standards lag behind technical advances. So even though stabilisation geogrids and asphalt interlayers have been used around the world for almost four decades, they’re still seen as an ‘alternative solution’ in permanent roads and not specified in design standards – in spite of the evidence as to their reducing costs, materials, construction time and extending service life!

Tony:Tony: Local authorities vary greatly too. Some are very innovative, but not all. Essentially, all 150 authorities are doing the same job, but each one sees itself as unique, with different problems and different specifications. There are fantastic opportunities for much greater collaboration throughout the supply chain.

Craig:Craig: Highways England are already working with the supply chain to use new techniques and approaches – they’ve realised traditional practices just won’t deliver the reliable, robust infrastructure they want.

So improved collaboration is important?

Craig:Craig: Definitely! The information is all there – but we should be sharing it so no-one’s working in isolation, or starting from scratch on every new project. We need to be sharing evidence-based case studies too. So we can help give people confidence that if we’re doing something different, it’s worth taking the risk.

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To speak to Craig or Tony about your To speak to Craig or Tony about your project or to book a Lunch & Learn CPD project or to book a Lunch & Learn CPD please refer to the contact details overleaf.please refer to the contact details overleaf.

Keeping you in the know

GET IN TOUCH

Tensar International LimitedUnits 2-4 Cunningham CourtShadsworth Business ParkBlackburnUnited KingdomBB1 2QX

T. +44(0)1254 262431www.tensar.co.uk

Like to find out more about Tensar Road Technology and what it could do for your next project?

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Or have you got an idea for something you’d like to see in the next issue?

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Issue 1 / May 2016

Open up your mind to a new way of Joined-Up Thinking and

find out more by registering for a CPD ‘Lunch & Learn’ seminar at:

tensarroadtechnology.co.ukW

T 01254 266 844#joinedupthinking