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ORLEN Asfalt and Budimex rely on modern technologies that reduce the costs of road construction and improve their durability. Orlen Asfalt, Grupa LOTOS and Budimex have signed an agreement with a scientific consortium consisting of the Gdańsk University of Technology, the Warsaw University of Technology and the Road and Bridge Research Institute for the implementation of a research programme on the modernisation of asphalt pavements using polymer-modified bitumen.
The companies and scientists want to confirm the positive impact of modified bitumens on the durability of road surfaces, and consequently on the reduction of road construction and maintenance costs. The results of the research, which will be known next year, should show the advantages of asphalt pavements with polymer modified bitumens and their competitiveness compared to cement concrete pavements.
– The road network is a key element of the national economy. ORLEN Asfalt, as an ORLEN Group company, feels co-responsible for the development of the road industry. Therefore, as a supplier of advanced bitumen, we have been placing a strong emphasis on research and technological development of materials for years. The project is to enable the extensive use of the latest technical and material knowledge to optimize the construction of the road network. It will bring tangible results both for the country and for road users. The support of this project by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) proves that this is an important step in the development of road construction technology in Poland,” says Marek Pietrzak, President of the Management Board of ORLEN Asfalt.
The works will be carried out as part of the program “Optimization of the asphalt road surface structure through the use of modified bitumen”. The researchers will investigate the impact of using modified bitumens and PMB HiMA in place of the road bitumens used so far, for different layers of the pavement structure.
Currently, the arrangement of pavement layers and their thickness are most often determined on the basis of the Catalogue of Typical Pavement Structures. However, the layer thicknesses included in it were calculated assuming the use of only road bitumens (not modified). The research conducted by the scientists is to enable the calculation of the pavement structure in such a way that it is possible to add new cards to the Catalogue, taking into account the use of polymer-modified and highly polymer-modified bitumen.
ORLEN Asfalt is one of the largest suppliers of bitumen binders used in the production of road surfaces in Poland and Central Europe. It offers bitumens from five production plants located in Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania. In 2014. the company was the first to introduce a group of polymer-modified products to our market – ORBITON HiMA – which is today one of the fastest growing directions in road surface construction technology.
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