Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) on the telly tonight

[Samster]

Remember ages back we were debating this type of thin road surface and the fact that it's lethal for the first few months after it's been laid?

Well on the telly tonight there's a programme called Real Story. Apparantly the Highways Agency have admitted that this road surface behaves just like a wet road in it's early life, and police in Derbyshire have tested it and found out that's it's lethal.

Apparantly 16 local authorities plan to increase their use of this shite over the next year!

BBC1 at 19:00 tonight. May be worth a watch.

 

[shropslad]

Is that the same

as that stuff called shell grip,,, they usually put it on corners,, stuff is shite,, I thought they were taking it off the roads because of the dangers,,on the road from Newtown to Aber it used to be coated in this stuff on some very tasty corners but now they have taken it up & put down some super black tarmac which is loads better,, well done Powys council.

 

[Samster]

I dunno Shrops - I think this is different stuff...........I'll have a watch tonight

 

[Jaws]

Now thats weird...
Around here they use shellgrip on the entry to roundabouts.. We all rated it so highly we asked if it could be extended right round !

And I know that others rate it too..
Cannot remember where, but I recently read a moan from someone about the way councils stop the shellgrip layer half way round a bend thereby making the surface go from great grip to what may well be shite ( I think this may have been in Ride thinking about it )

Methinks there must be more than one type of shellgrip around !

 

[R2B2]

I always thought that Shellgrip was the pale coloured stuff they put down at roundabouts and heavy braking zones etc :dunno:

...... and I thought it was new black tarmac that was slippery :dunno:

 

[cbr11xx]

Hampshire has been doing a lot of re-surfacing - me thinks, but hopes not, they're using SMA...

 

[Jaws]

Shellgrip around here is the light tan stuff.. grips like a grippy thing covered in treacle and superglue ( messy but grippy ! LOL !)

 

[R2B2]

Post prog comment

Mmmm, shocking, - BIG up to Devon Council I say!

 

[Rolfy Dave]

Shellgrip is a totally different stuff to SMA...SMA is the stuff they use to overcaot normal road surfaces (just like Trophychap went down on in Welshpool).. It is normally very smooth, and glossy black when first laid(ie..looks like its permanently wet)


Shellgrip is a high skid resistant surface used on approaches to bad corners & roundabouts/traffic islands...and is normally pale brown or (sme say) pinky coloured, and grips like a grippy thing on grippo pills...

I have just seen the aforementioned program, and all that seemed to come out of it was that roads are, in general, very undermaintained, and "new" surfaces should not be regarded as good grip surfaces....Dont take anything for granted...

Be safe out there.


Cheers,

Rolfy
:beer:

ps... Dont forget to wear all your protective gear in this hot weather John, you muppet...ROFL

pps... Saw a guy in a lycra race suit at Rockingham on the BMW trackday today...

 

[shropslad]

shell grip

Reason they took it up was because it don't last,,, it breaks up & on a bike because of its very pale colour & small granuals you can't see the loose bits. Its prolly ok for cars or anything on four wheels but I don't trust it on a bike banked over had two near off on the stuff,, the stuff that looks shiny I thought was just neat tar which they use for joining/ overbanding & we all know this stuff can be lethal & best to keep off it.

Give me nice smoothish hot tarmac anyday.