Thermal Road Repairs has struck a deal with Groupe Sapiens for the French company to be its sole distributor in seven European countries, through its specialist road maintenance firm, Bitume Armée Routier (BAR).
“BAR visited one of our contracts to see our technology in action and decided there and then that they wanted to use it,” says Thermal Road Repairs (TRR) director Aidan Conway. “We are very happy for them to distribute our units so that we can retain our focus on the UK market. Groupe Sapiens has a similar culture to us – they are always looking for innovation – and so it makes good sense.”
BAR has the rights to distribute all of TRR’s thermal heat systems: the pothole repair unit, the paver unit to heat new joints, the longitudinal joint repair unit and the footpath or trench heater to treat reinstatements or repairs. TRR’s thermal infrared heaters are powered by a mix of LPG and electrical energy and supported by solar panels which heats failing joints, defects or the material in and around potholes so that a homogeneous to create homogeneous, long-lasting asphalt.
TRR has designed its equipment to be as environmentally friendly as possible. In the UK, its pothole repair method produces 20% of the emissions that a traditional method would. It reduces waste to zero because the failed material is re-used, topped up with a small amount of virgin asphalt, and it removes vehicle movements because everything can be done from the one unit.
BAR, which has badged the technology as Thermopatchs for Europe, is currently deploying it on the highway network which runs between Lyon and the French Alps. The agreement with TRR will see BAR distributing the units to Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal – as well as within its home market.
Although the first of BAR’s orders were supposed to roll out of TRR’s manufacturing facility in 2020, the Covid pandemic put all plans on hold for a year. But with a lifting of lockdown on the horizon for France, TRR and BAR are preparing to pick up where they left off.
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Thermal Road Repairs is a green technology company which supplies systems to improve the quality, cost and time efficiency of road repairs and paving – at a far lower environmental cost than traditional methods. We invest significantly in R&D, to create new technologies and to continuously improve our existing ones.
High output. Low emission. Permanent solution.
*source: Electricity North West’s audited report that led to a National Joint Utilities Group (NJUG) Award for TRR.