Contractors and building specifiers should look “beyond black” and make better use of innovative asphalt materials amid a growing appetite for coloured asphalt across the UK.
The call comes from UK-based construction materials supplier Aggregates Industries. The company says that the government has pledged over £1.2bn to expand the nation’s cycling facilities under its cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS), and that asphalt materials that can offer colour demarcation have become increasingly recognised as one of the most appropriate surfacing choices for cycleways.
Victoria Smith, general manager of Express Asphalt at Aggregate Industries, says that recent years have seen a marked investment in public infrastructure such as parks and natural spaces, bus lanes and cycleways, where aesthetic appeal is now just as important as functionality and performance.
"And with black asphalt no longer always sufficient to meet the brief, there’s now a mounting onus on contractors to leverage the latest innovations in coloured asphalt to achieve the desired results,” she adds.
According to Aggregate Industries there is a rising appetite for its SuperColour range of high-performance distinctly coloured asphalts, particularly in large cities and urban landscapes, where it is increasingly used for private drives, bus lanes, cycle lanes, sports landscaping and parks and natural areas.
To keep up with increasing demand, the company has recently expanded supply of its coloured asphalt products beyond its Doncaster and Bristol plants, to its Hertford depot. In June, Aggregate Industries also opened a dedicated new sampling lab at its Doncaster Express Asphalt plant, which is intended to guarantee a quick turnaround of samples for customers looking to test the SuperColour range’s colour capabilities.
