More Durable Bituminous Material

To provide an efficient and reliable road network to the public, routine maintenance is required. Depending on factors like seriousness of road defects and traffic flow, the scope and time required for the road maintenance works will vary, inevitably causing inconvenience to the public. To better serve the society, we have been studying road paving materials that would be more durable so as to minimise the frequency of maintenance works. In collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, we have researched and developed a more durable bituminous paving material, which is composed of bitumen binder of higher viscosity – "10mm Highly Modified Stone Mastic Asphalt (HMSMA10)".

Laboratory test results showed that this new bituminous paving material has better anti-deformation, anti-aging and anti-fatigue performance than the existing bituminous materials. Coupled with positive findings from site trials conducted since end 2018 at over 30 road sections in the urban area of high traffic flow and frequent road damage, we issued guidance notes RD/GN/038B in February 2023, which updated the technical guidelines for wider application of this new bituminous material.