A new company has been formed to provide a mechanical retexturing service for highways.
Based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, Textureblast Ltd aims to exploit advances in shotblasting technology. In trials, the Textureblast treatment has raised the SCRIM reading of stretches of road by as much as 20 points, said sales director Matthew Lowe, who sees it as an alternative to surface dressing. Up to 500m2 per hour can be re-textured by the self-contained machine, which vacuums the road as it goes.
‘We see it as an environmentally-friendly option, rather than using the supply of aggregate and bitumen to restore skid resistance,’ he said.