Shell Bitumen is all around us

The M25 is London’s main motorway ring road, serving thousands of motorists every day. Spanning five counties, it’s a major commuter artery and requires regular, ongoing maintenance. Shell has been a key partner helping to keep this vital road moving for over 30 years.

Part of our efforts to improve roads involve road safety and urban architecture. A good example of this is when we were involved in renovating a 9 kilometre stretch of seafront in Wirral, England. In total, 800 tonnes of coloured asphalt supplied by Tarmac incorporating Mexphalte C LT binder, was used to cover the promenade. A sandy finish designed to emulate the colours of the New Brighton coastline, gave it both durability and visual appeal.

This bridge is one of modern day's most complex civil engineering projects. At 2,252m it’s the longest stayed-girder bridge in the world, exceeding even the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Shell Cariphalte© was chosen to cover the surface of the bridge and the two viaducts because of its resistance to rutting cracking, stripping and ageing.

This unique project saw Shell Bitumen help to resurface the central aisle of a church in France, in keeping with the traditional look and feel of the building. By combining our Mexphalte C© LT binder with sand and gravel from the quarry of Le Goasq in Scringnac, it was possible to achieve greater creativity in terms of the aisle’s colour compared to its previous surface.

The Latschau reservoir is part of a hydroelectric power hub providing sustainable power to western Austria. During restoration works in 2017 to prolong the life of the reservoir, Shell helped reseal the basin. We provided over 1,150 tonnes of our RC 70/100 binder to help repave around 60,000 square meters of surface area. Due to the high-mountain location and need for the facility to have a long lifespan, testing and planning for the project was intensive. The RC binder achieved good results in a laboratory environment, offering the high permeability needed during installation, and was used alongside a thick, sealing layer that provides vital protection from water leakage.

The Cologne ring road system is an endurance test dreaded by motorists due to the heavy traffic it carries every day. To ease traffic, local authorities decided to widen the six-lane motorway to eight lanes. The technical focus lay mainly on the asphalt which covers around 100,000 square metres of road surface bearing the brunt of heavy goods vehicles. Alongside high stability the asphalt also needed to comply with stringent noise-control requirements to protect the residential areas bordering the motorway. Shell Bitumen provided Cariphalte OPA to enable an asphalt to be produced with a significant five-decibel noise reduction.

Hidden deep inside the Elidir Fawr mountain to preserve the beauty of Snowdonia National Park above it, lies the Dinorwig Power Station. Known as Electric Mountain, Dinorwig Power Station supplies sustainable hydroelectric energy to the National Grid. Shell’s Tixophalte plays a big role in helping to seal the 620-metre long Marchlyn Mawr dam, which forms the upper reservoir of the facility. An impressive 16 kilometres of tunnels and caverns run through the mountain, servicing the facility, and waterproofing is a key element that keeps the station running.

Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit is the venue for the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix, the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race, Formula One and a host of other major motorsport events. We have been supplying Shell Cariphalte Racetrack to Sepang for a number of years, ensuring a reliable supply of highly workable bitumen that meets the needs of motorsport circuit. The racetrack was resurfaced in 2016 and a more advanced bitumen solution was vital for longevity in view of the high temperatures and humidity.