Surfacing at the Harbour

This job involved planing out and fully resurfacing a tired and damaged harbour road which is under heavy use (44 tonne lorries round the clock!) to make it fit for purpose again. The aim was to get the surface to a safe and durable condition with as little disruption to operations as possible.

The photos below show each stage of the process, from removing the old surface through to laying the new asphalt, bringing a road that’s been in use since the late 1800s up to scratch and fit for modern day use.

Here’s what we started with. The road has been made wider over time, and new junctions created. The existing draining wasn’t working well for the road after some of these changes, and a large area of extensive damaged caused by water having no place to go is clearly visible in this image.

We started planing out early in the morning on a Friday …

Taking as much material off the surface as possible so that a really good depth of new material could be laid.

Look at the damage where the lorries come on and off the weighbridge!

After planing out, the area always looks worse than ever.

We protected the edges of the drains and manholes so that the road could still be used overnight, and came back the next morning for an early start to get the base course in.

Our Vogele 1803 waiting for the next load of tar while everyone is eating their piece.

We left the road for a week, and returned the following Saturday to lay a surface course of Stone Mastic Asphalt with a 10mm aggregate. SMA was pioneered in Germany and Scandinavia, and has a coarse aggregate skeleton and the voids are filled with an aggregate/filler/bitumen mortar, resulting in a material which is resistant to rutting and has a high durability. Exactly what is needed here!

And here’s the finished job.

Thank you for reading!