For all motorists, but perhaps the Ferrari collection rocker, Rod Stewart in particular, it will be music to the ears: the researchers have developed a road surface that heals when she cracks, preventing nests in the hen hen without the need for human intervention.
The international team has designed a self-careful bitumen that repairs cracks while they are formed by merging asphalt together. During laboratory tests, the pieces of the material repaired small fractures within an hour after their appearance.
“When you close the cracks, you prevent the nests to train in the future and extend the life of the route,” said Dr. Jose Norambuena-Contreras, project researcher at the University of Swansea. “We can extend the lifespan of the surface of 30%.”
According to the AA, a record of 579 million pounds sterling was spent in the United Kingdom last year to repair vehicles damaged by nests, against 474 million pounds 7m pothles In England this year, transport secretary Heidi Alexander said that the dangers had “tormented motorists for too long”.
The hen nests generally start from small surface cracks that form under the weight of traffic. These allow water to infiltrate the road surface, where it causes more damage by freezing and thaw cycles. The bitumen, the sticky black substance used in asphalt, becomes likely to crack when it hardens by oxidation.
To make self-healing bitumen, the researchers mixed with tiny porous vegetable spores dipped in recycled oils. When the road surface is compressed by passing the circulation, it tightens the spores, which release their oil in all the cracks nearby. The oils sufficiently soften the bitumen to flow and seals the cracks.
In collaboration with researchers from King’s College London and Google Cloud, scientists have used automatic learning, a form of artificial intelligence, to model the movement of organic molecules in bitumen and simulate the behavior of self- Healing to see how he replied newly formed cracks. The equipment could be extended for use on British roads in a few years, according to the researchers.
RAC believes that, on average, drivers meet around six nests in a mile on the roads controlled by the Council in England and in Wales. The holes can endanger lives and leave motorists with invoices for repairs from hundreds to thousands of pounds.
In 2022, Rod Stewart shared a video of himself fill the hen nests On a local road after the bursting of an ambulance tire. “My Ferrari cannot pass here at all,” he complained.
The singer, who wants a difficult route to travel, said he was considering Sell your collection of sports cars Because the roads around his house in Essex were so riddled with stands. “Unfortunately, due to the nests-of-poule on our roads, I may have to find new owners for them,” Stewart wrote on Instagram at the time.
National Highways, the government agency responsible for exploiting, maintaining and improving England highways and the main roads, said that the Smart Road materials were represented among the technologies in which it was investing.
“By predicting where the maintenance is necessary on the real road network for self-discussed road surfaces, National Highways undertakes to use technology to make our motorways and major on safer and greener roads for the future”, said a spokesperson.
“This research will mean improvements and maintenance will be delivered more quickly with less disturbances and road users will have a much better travel experience from start to finish, with saving in time and the cost of travel.”