Leading US-based manufacturer of styrenic block copolymers Kraton Polymers says that a consortium of leading Dutch construction industry players has taken advantage of the performance benefits of its polymers and launched a pioneering concept in asphalt road construction.

The company claims that the revolutionary ‘Adhesive Road’ is suitable for use in motorway wearing courses, urban roads, bridge decks and parking decks, and because of the ease and speed in laying and removal, the product is also suited for temporary road constructions, including those at building sites.
‘Adhesive Road’ was developed by the construction firm Dura Vermeer and building materials consultants Intron and Esha, in response to the ‘Road surface for the future’ contest held by the Dutch road authorities. The road components comply with the Dutch standards on recycling and environment-linked legislation, the company  says.
“We are all excited by this breakthrough,” says Robbert Naus, Dura Vermeer project leader of ‘Adhesive Road’. “By using Kraton polymers, we have converted a wild idea into a practical solution that will help road authorities cost-effectively provide high-performance road surfaces, which will help reduce construction and maintenance time and resulting traffic jams.
“Our next challenge is to incorporate additional features, such as electronic detection devices, into the roll,” says Naus.
“We trialled ‘Adhesive Road’ on a test-section used by traffic near the A50 highway in The Netherlands. The road was unrolled and attached in poor weather conditions in November 2001 and we are pleased to say that the road surface continues to perform flawlessly,” he points out.
The ‘Adhesive Road’ road-on-a-roll consists of a rolled up pre-fabricated asphalt layer with an adhesive base layer. The asphalt can be tailored to provide specific performance properties, such as noise reduction, skid resistance and durability, while the heat-sensitive adhesive system enables the road to be attached and detached quickly and easily from an underlying surface. Since the surface can be detached, returned to the factory for restoration and then replaced, key time and cost-saving advantages are obtainable during original construction and future maintenance, says Roger Morgan, vice president for Europe and Asia Pacific at Kraton Polymers and Kraton D global director at Kraton Polymers.
“Kraton polymers are styrenic block copolymers, which offer a range of performance and processing benefits to bitumen modification and adhesive formulations. They are used in both the asphalt binder and the adhesive layer of ‘Adhesive Road’. Kraton polymers provide the elasticity and elastic recovery required during production and unrolling of the asphalt layer so that a sufficiently thick asphalt layer can be used. This is in addition to improving the wear and tear of the asphalt by minimising cracking caused by heavy traffic and climatic conditions.
It also enables excellent, long-term adhesion of the roll to the base surface using heat treatment. And thanks to the thermo-reversibility of the polymer network, the adhesive loosens with heat treatment when the roll needs to be removed, he says.
“Kraton Polymers has a steadfast commitment to innovation to ensure that we can bring quality products to market quickly that meet our customer’s needs,” says Morgan. “We are thoroughly pleased that our products were used to make this cutting-edge technology possible,” he adds.