Kraton hits the road in Russia

Houston, Texas – Kraton Performance Polymers Inc. has completed a first road trial of its highly modified asphalt (HiMA) styrene-butadiene-styrene technology in St. Petersburg, Russia, which will open to traffic in mid-2015.

The technology enables SBS polymer loading to be more than double that of ordinary modified asphalt. The mixes are, however, readily workable, easy to lay in the field, extremely durable and weather resistant, claims Kraton.

During winter in St. Petersburg, many vehicles are fitted with studded tires, which can quickly degrade asphalt pavements. The high polymer loading is said to increase resistance to road fatigue and deformation, so extending service lifetime.

Russian manufacturer and supplier of roofing and water/heat insulation materials Technonicol supplied 96 tonnes of the two HiMA binders for the base and wearing courses at its Vyborg plant.

Russian road contractor, VAD, was responsible for laying the pavement. VAD produced two different asphalt mixes and paved two lanes of a 1km stretch of new road north to St. Petersburg.

An asphalt pavement 15cm thick was laid down instead of the typically applied 20cm thickness. Additionally, only two layers were applied instead of the standard three layers.

"Our goal is to make pavements more cost-effective," said ,'' said Marek Kowalczyk, Kraton's eastern European sales manager.

"Our HiMA solution allows us to add more polymer into the mixes to achieve an asphalt thickness reduction from 20% to up to 50%, which makes the pavement less costly upfront.”