More sustainable hotbox asphalt

Cappagh had been using a static hotbox for around seven years to store asphalt for utility reinstatement. It provided a ready supply of hot asphalt and helped them to reduce collection times and increase productivity. They had previously found that the asphalt was becoming unusable after 24 hours generating large amount of waste, typically 5-6 tonnes per 20 tonne load. Following a presentation by Tarmac, they were keen to see whether their innovative ULTILIFE HOTBOX asphalt, could help them extend this workability window and reduce waste. ULTILIFE HOTBOX uses Tarmac binder technology to reduce early life aging, enable significantly longer storage, reduce waste and improve workability compared to typical hot mix equivalents.

After initial discussions, a Tarmac Site Technician visited Cappagh’s facility in Wimbledon to calibrate the hotbox in preparation to ensure that the material was stored correctly. The first delivery of AC 20 Binder was made at 5:30 am on Monday 14 August 2017 from Tarmac’s Hayes asphalt plant. The material was loaded into the hotbox and used successful by Cappagh for planned reinstatement works. The trial showed that the asphalt remained usable until Wednesday afternoon, as much as 60 hours after the original delivery and long after the standard asphalt would have been discarded. Since ULTILIFE HOTBOX is stored at around 20^oC lower than standard asphalt it also offered a significant saving in running costs.

ULTILIFE HOTBOX is now used across North West London, South London and Surrey. It allows Cappagh’s repair crews to collect fresh asphalt at the start of the working day and travel direct to site without delay. As Sean Ferncombe, Reinstatement Contracts Manager at Cappagh explained, it offers clear benefits to the utility contractor: “Tarmac’s Hotbox material hit the nail on the head. It offers commercial advantages – less wastage, greater productivity, lower hotbox running costs but the biggest saving is a reduction in defects as the material retains its workability and can be used later in the day. As a company Cappagh are keen to change the way we work and improve quality. Tarmac were able to help us achieve that with the UltiLife Hotbox product. Potentially we will look to use the same principle for additional binder and surface courses in the future.”