Project Pothole is part of the Live Labs 2 research programme, focussed on decarbonising local highway infrastructure and funded by the Department for Transport. At Road Expo Scotland Live, held in Glasgow on 27 and 28 November, project manager Lauren SeBlonka updated attendees on pothole research that is underway in North Lanarkshire.
North Lanarkshire Council, with Transport for West Midlands and industry partners, has created a Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads as part of Live Labs 2. The Centre will provide guidance on carbon and innovation, case studies and data, and carbon emissions information relevant to local authorities. The council’s first focus is on pothole repair – an emotive issue for the public and one that causes negative impacts such as injuries, car damage and claims, said SeBlonka, who is an innovation project manager from Amey.
“It’s one of our core service activities but (we have) seen very little from a carbon perspective due to its inherent complexity,” said SeBlonka. “Not every defect is the same, the amount of material you need to use, the transport to and from… and the longevity of those repairs are based on a million different variables.”
The council carried out tests on six roads around North Lanarkshire, selecting locations that reflected the range of roads that the council is responsible for with two A roads, two B roads and two C roads. The materials under trial were two products based on MMA (methyl methacrylate), one containing waste tyres, the other a cold mix with RAP (recycled asphalt planings) and bio binders.
The trial saw 18 ‘simulated’ potholes and 18 patches created on the roads which were all in ‘Amber’ – or reasonable - condition. The reason for simulating potholes, rather than using ones that had formed, was to make the comparisons as accurate as possible.
Transport for West Midlands has carried out another set of trials, looking at how the materials perform when being used to repair ‘real life’ potholes. Meanwhile, the University of Nottingham, TRL and Aston University are carrying out testing on these and other repair materials to assess their longevity, data which can then be used to work out whole life costs and carbon emissions.
North Lanarkshire is working with the Future Highways Research Group to create verified carbon profiles for the repair materials which will be available through the Centre of Excellence, along with detailed information gathered from the trials. This is something that Thermal Road Repairs welcomes; we have always worked hard to measure the carbon footprint of our technology and our business, gaining PAS 2080 accreditation at the beginning of 2024.
SeBlonka explained that decarbonisation of potholes includes multiple steps. It should start with preventative measures such as surface treatment, she said, and should also include ways to reduce waste and the need for new materials. Here, Thermal Road Repairs’ technology made a cameo appearance as one of the ways to do this.
Among the challenges SeBlonka raised in looking at carbon impacts of different materials is that suppliers have differing levels of maturity when it comes to information about the carbon emissions associated with their products. Other difficulties are that sources of materials change regularly and the challenges of modelling longevity and whole-life carbon.
Whereas this first set of pothole repair tests looked at ‘emergency sized’ or large potholes, the council is considering a second phase of testing which could look at smaller defects such as cracks, patching and failures around ironworks. And it hopes to create a carbon treatment matrix which would give a recommended lowest carbon solution based on defect size and road type.
The two-year Live Labs 2 programme runs up to April 2026 and aside from potholes, will be looking at surfacing trials, line marking materials, surface materials, signage materials and footpaths and cycle ways.
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