I have just read the introduction to the December newsletter of 2004, and it was rather downbeat, so it is good that I can be just a little less cautionary this year.
I think there is still a way to go in retracing some of the steps along the path that was meant to take us to a new dawn in highways maintenance, and a few are still merrily continuing along that path, still believing there is nothing to worry about. 
But a revival of good engineering practice for those who have lost their way may have begun.
I believe there are a number of signs that "good sense" is beginning to prevail, with fresh information and guidance from senior sources being published to rectify previously supported misconceptions on materials and processes.
I will include a few examples of, what I believe is this new realisation of what is possible and "real", and not what is only achievable in the minds of those that do not really understand the total concept of highways maintenance, embracing motorways highly trafficked by HGV's (and seemingly getting heavier) to rural country lanes.
But possibly, just possibly we are on our way back to the reality of the road engineering, and away from the "suit" filled meeting rooms, and the marketing "panels", I would like to think so.
In this newsletter, I will be drawing upon quite a lot of what has been published in recent magazines, journals and reports, because it is in the articles and reports in these publications that I am detecting the "change". 
I feel the content is much improved in many items, with far more actual information being provided.
It is also pleasing to me (it saves me a lot of work) to find that the websites of some companies are containing far more information about the process, material or equipment that they wish to sell, rather than just being a commercial contact point.
There is not one material. there is not one process, there is not one piece of equipment that is going to fulfill all your needs. You need to have some knowledge of them all and select according to which is most appropriate to your requirements in relation to many factors, such as, material/product properties, needs of the site conditions, suitability for the traffic conditions, immediate cost, whole life cost, traffic management at the time of the work, area of the UK, time of the year (weather), and a whole lot of other factors.
You will need some good people around you to be able to make the correct decisions, and I am only talking road pavements, in this discipline a knowledgeable Materials Engineer is a definite bonus.
I am not giving up on my quest to provide more qualified and experienced Materials

Early Life Skid Resistance
I informed you in the last issue that the TRL Report,
"TRL Published Project Report PPR060 - Early Life Skid Resistance of Asphalt Surfaces" 
was available and that I was awaiting the "works" copy for perusal. Well it duly arrived and I have read it, every full stop and comma.
I found it a very useful read, one that everybody involved in the bituminous surfacing industry should tackle, even those who feel they may not be conversant with this subject, because at the beginning of the report there is a section that does an excellent job of explaining skid resistance, the factors involved in creating good skid resistance on a road surface, and the various options now available for monitoring its performance.
I can understand why some may be disappointed that the various data that TRL obviously hold was not more specifically presented, but I think that trying to achieve that may have meant the report was never published, it has taken long enough anyway.
In my opinion this report is important and should be widely read, if for no other reason than it is an "official" document and it does contain some very important statements that have not been previously published at this level.
There are a number of conclusions drawn in the report that are highly relevant to the continued use of SMA and proprietary Thin Surfacing, even if the problematic mixtures are only a small percentage of total production.

Thin Surfacings in Winter
I had not intended to write further in this edition on the subject of Thin Surfacings, then suddenly we find ourselves in the middle of a considerable "cold snap".
Although the phenomena of low early life skid resistance on some SMA's and SMA-type Thin Surfacings must not be ignored I still feel the greater impact on those responsible for maintaining all highway networks is their durability, or lack of it, and hence the cost of maintaining the network.
It is Sunday 20/11/2005 and we have experienced low overnight temperatures for five nights in my region , and the weather forecast suggests the current conditions will last at least another three or four days.
Thinly laid porous materials are not designed to cope with these conditions over prolonged lengths of time.
If the winter does live up to the weather "experts" predictions I can foresee that this will be the last winter for many of the earlier proprietaryThin Surfacings.
I will not mention the considerably higher rates of precautionary salting that these materials require, which in turn does not help the environment, or the budgets of the winter maintenance providers.
I note from the journal "Surveyor", 17/11/2005, page 5, that we can expect a publication relating to "best practice guidance" on the use of Thin Surfacings in January 2006, from the UK Roads Board, (i.e. indirectly, The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister).
I am not going to get too excited yet about this publication, not until I see its content, but as the news item states that it is going to highlight "the pitfalls" of the use of thin surfacings, it could well be a useful publication.
See, I told you things could be improving.
And yet another interesting snippet, this time from the journal "Transportation", October 2005, on the contents page.
This is an item on surface dressing (I like good quality surface dressing) that states a major binder manufacturer has received HAPAS approval for two modified surface dressing binders.
The article goes on to say, "This means the approved materials (and any other similarly approved binders) can be used to surface dress higher categories of road such as the the Highway Agency's trunk road system."
Now far be it for me to boast, but the the "Excellent" organisation, that I work for, have been successfully surface dressing prematurely failing SMA's  on 'A' roads for several years, using polymer modified binders. 
It is not really necessary to have a "piece of paper" to undertake quality surface dressing with a polymer modified binder, but I suppose it will not take long before all binder suppliers find it necessary to have them, I find it all rather sad.
I would like to tell you more "local" good news, because there is more to tell, but perhaps it would be inappropriate in this newsletter.
I think I have said enough on the subject of Thin Surfacing and SMA, time to move on to other interesting stuff.

But another day, time to wrap up warm and trample some frost.

High Performance Road Markings

This is going to be a very quick and simple item based upon a photograph I took recently of a high performance road marking designed to provide high skid resistance while retaining good levels of retro-reflectivity.
The line was laid on a very difficult site where every attention was being paid to good skid resistance, including the road markings.

It is the "drop on" materials that give this type of marking its improved performance, and further details can be found in the appropriate specification.
The larger bead will give increased retro-reflectivity, and to some degree will stand above water films on the road, improving reflection in wet conditions.
The calcined flint improves the skid resistance of the marking.
Try BS EN 1423 : 1998 first, but you will need to refer to other specifications to ensure the performance of this type of marking, and you should do so, because you will be paying a considerable premium on this product compared to a conventional marking, and you need to know that it will provide you with the performance you require in the situation you have laid it.
A number of contractors can provide this type of high performance road marking, often under a proprietary name, in my opinion they all should comply with the relevant British European Standards

Road Marking Removal
I will let the photographs and the website supply the information.
But it is good when you turn up to a trial of a new piece of equipment and it does what the contractor says it would do, although I would not want to use it on a road surface that was not pretty robust, i.e. a good hot rolled asphalt or close graded macadam, something that is not a thin layer or pervious. 
To cause interest the contractor took the time to "flash" a rather tired looking, but otherwise sound, centre road marking. The visual improvement was remarkable, and the contractor claimed this treatment improves the luminance and retro-reflectivity of the marking but this was not able to be verified by testing.

Motto of the Month
"Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness."