CRACKS & JOINTS: 'FIBRE-FLEX' TECHNIQUE

• APPLICATIONS

Permanent repair for sealing cracks and crazed areas or before a new surfacing layer is applied. Due to the thixotropic behaviour of the material, when hot pouring takes place, it is very suitable for inclined planes, such as reservoir slopes.

• ADVANTAGES

The compound of polymer bitumen, steel and glass fibres and rubber granules, is poured hot as a crackbridging membrane layer. The repair can be applied some time in advance of any resurfacing layer.

• WORK METHOD

At crack, fissure or joint locations Klaruw’s ‘Armacutter’ milling machine is used to cut a groove of 70-130 mm wide and 6-10 mm deep. Following this, the groove is blasted dry and clean using Klaruw’s purpose designed SuperJet hot air lance. Immediately after this and while the bonding surfaces are still hot the groove is filled with a reinforced elastic bitumen consisting of polymerised bitumen reinforced with steel and glass fibres and rubber granules. If required this material can also be applied as a fibre-reinforced membrane layer without first milling a groove in which case cracks are bridged producing a 3 mm thick band on the pavement surface.

• COMMENTS

Experience in the Netherlands since 1988, in the United Kingdom for a longer period, especially at airports as an inter-layer crack ‘retarding’ membrane.