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Heavy Duty
Airports, ports and railways require paving solutions that can withstand extremely heavy loads and high pavement stress. These pavements are subject to sustained loads, often in channels such as loading bays which can lead to rutting.
Challenges
Extreme conditions involved in heavy-duty applications challenge paving solutions to their limits.
The extreme demands on heavy duty pavements present their own challenges. In airports, in particular, safety is of paramount importance and the surface must be able to withstand:
- Elevated weight loads;
- High and varying speeds;
- Severe weather conditions; and
- Increasing traffic frequency.
What’s more, it has become more important than ever to keep operation down-time to a minimum due to increases in airport traffic. Paving windows are becoming shorter.
Solutions
Shell Bitumen operate the highest standards of HSSE to ensure all deliveries are as safe as possible
We have developed technical and operational solutions to meet these challenges. For example, Shell Bitumen S-Grade binders are used in airfield applications being designed to deliver, compared to conventional bitumens:
- Improved asphalt performance through increased stiffness, better rutting resistance and improved adhesion performance;
- Improved workability of hot mix asphalt which makes it quicker to lay;
- Better asphalt compaction to help runways to be laid quicker;
- Extended laying window and transportation time and distance when asphalt manufactured at conventional temperatures; and
- Reduced energy costs and emissions with asphalt manufactured at lower temperatures.
We offer end-to-end solutions, from the development of bespoke mixes to meet individual specifications to the delivery of bitumen on site.
We work in close collaboration with contractors and airport owners to develop proven pavement systems that are both safe and offer the best possible long term cost over the life cycle of the runway.
Our in depth knowledge and experience of the bitumen market enables us to pass on our expertise to contractors, creating durable products with increased workability to help minimize the paving window and reduce its impact on operations.
Solutions For...