Retread

Retread is our cold in-situ road recycling process. We have been operating this process for over 40 years for both carriageways and footways and have highly experienced teams working across the UK using specifically adapted plant and equipment.

The process is versatile in its application and the benefits of it being an in-situ process means access and movements to and from the site are significantly reduced. Colas' Retread process can be applied to many hard to reach areas across urban and rural landscapes without disrupting the local community or impacting local traffic.

Our Retread process offers significant savings of: 

• Reduced waste and use of new materials
• Cost
• Time
• Energy Consumption
• Carbon Emissions.

This is achieved as Colas' Retread process is quicker to complete and uses only a fraction of the raw materials in traditional resurfacing. Retread offers reduced costs, negligible waste production and significantly minimises site occupation, disruption and landfill costs. Through reducing the output of energy consumption, carbon emissions and waste, clients are able to make greener choices and lower their carbon footprint.

How does Retread work?

Carriageway Retread

The existing surface is scarified to a depth of up to 75mm with intermittent rolling to allow the passage of traffic. Where necessary, improvements to the material grading can be made by the addition of aggregate. The surface is the harrowed and graded to form the new road profile.

Carriageway Retread Emulsion is applied followed by a further harrowing to ensure maximum distribution and penetration of the emulsion. After rolling, a second application of binder is followed by 14mm chippings to close surface voids. The last stage of the process is a coat of emulsion and 6mm chippings.

To prolong the life of the reconstruction, a surface treatment or overlay is advisable the following season.

Footway Retread

The existing footway is scarified to a depth of between 50 and 75mm with a cold mini planer. Unsuitable material and items in excess of 75mm are removed. If required, isolated soft spots are replaced with graded limestone or similar. Scarified material is shaped and graded by hand and any excess material removed to allow for a 20mm wearing course.

Colas Retread "C" Bitumen Emulsion is applied by bulk sprayer and the surface consolidated by roller. Limestone aggregate is applied lightly to the surface of the completed footway, which is then rolled again. Tack coat is applied before surfacing with 20mm of specified footpath wearing course to complete the process.

Benefits

• Achieve total resurfacing without the removal of any materials
• Reduced carbon emissions
• Reduced energy consumption
• Avoid waste being sent to landfill
• Minimised disruption to the local road network
• Reduced time on site and road space occupation
• Reduced costs

Precise measurement for sustainable development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For all of Colas' Road Recycling processes our environmental calculator is used to provide quantifiable data on energy and carbon emissions. This data is also shared and provided to our clients. Sustainable development requires precise measurement and our environmental calculator does exactly that. For each of our projects we are able to determine the exact percentage of savings achieved through;

• Energy Consumption
• Carbon Emissions.

The data provided with each of our projects demonstrates that by opting to recycle the existing road surface, energy use and CO₂ emissions are almost halved.