CYCLE PATHS GO GREEN IN NEWCASTLE

Cycle paths in and around the University of Newcastle upon Tyne have had a makeover - turning green to clearly mark the shared footpath for cyclists and pedestrians.

The material, a special Bardon Europave macadam in green, was supplied to the University and Newcastle City Council by Darlington Express Asphalt. It was installed by contractor Cumbrian Industrials working on behalf of the City Council, which holds the Newcastle tender. Darlington Express Asphalt worked in partnership with Cumbrian Industrials to meet the client’s needs.

The University is Darlington Express Asphalt’s first customer in the North East for green Bardon Europave. Bardon Europave is a superior coloured asphalt made by Aggregate Industries which incorporates a penetration grade translucent binder to provide a range of pigmented and natural aggregate finishes. Supplied in a range of colours including blue, red, buff and green, Bardon Europave has the same workability and strength characteristics as conventional asphalt highway surfacings.

Commenting on behalf of Darlington Express Asphalt, technical sales manager Darren Foster, said, “The installation is a trial site on an area of cycle path around the University and aims to improve the look and performance of the cycle path. In addition because it is a shared path with pedestrians, the special green mix clearly marks the cycle path, whilst traditional black asphalt highlights the pedestrian area.

“We hope this will lead to the upgrade of all cycle paths in the locality using these coloured, high performance materials. The trial site highlights our ability to produce special branded macadams in smaller quantities across our network of Express Asphalt depots. As a result of this successful project, we are confident that we can successfully manufacture and supply Bardon Europave to meet any customer requirement in the North East.”

As a supplier of smaller quantities of asphalt - around 2½ to 3 tonnes - Express Asphalt is a regular provider to many of the UK’s local authorities and utility companies as well as to a mixture of light industrial and consumer projects such as driveways.

APRIL 2006