Potholes Could Be A Thing of the Past as UK Scientists Invent Self Healing Concrete

Anyone who has ever driven out on the roads in Britain will know that there are a myriad of potholes and breakages in the road surface. This is bane of every motorist, a problem which never seems to have a solution. Once enough people complain, a pothole will be filled in by the council, but by the time this happens another will have cropped up somewhere else.

The pain of potholes

The constant wear and tear of our roads, along with weather conditions which only exacerbate the situation, has resulted in bumps and divots along the majority of the roads in the UK. It costs a lot of taxpayer money to have them filled, but it also costs the taxpaying road user money in terms of repairs to their cars too, with suspension and tyres more likely to be damaged driving on pothole covered roads.

There is also a safety issue when it comes to potholes, with people swerving to avoid them being more likely to end up in an accident. Cyclists can also be injured if they are thrown from their bike after hitting a pothole.

Self healing concrete

With this in mind, news of self healing concrete being produced is something which could have no end of benefits to drivers and councils. The self healing concrete has been produced at several universities – Bath, Cardiff and Cambridge – and involves an ingenious way of avoiding minor repairs for roads.

The basis of the technology is that there are special capsules in the road mixture when it is laid. Once the surface is breached and water enters, the capsules are burst and produce limestone to fill in the gap which has occurred. This prevents any further damage to the road in this area and it’s thought it could double the life of road surfaces where it is implemented.

Clearly this is something which could save councils and taxpayers a lot of money across the board. It would increase road safety and reduce emissions as a by-product, making for happy road users and less air pollution. But it isn’t just roads which could benefit, buildings could also see extended life and greater safety because of the self healing concrete.

Revolutionary road improvements

Besides this potentially revolutionary invention there are other road safety measures which have been created to change the way we use roads. Other examples include a temperature sensitive paint which shows up only when the temperature drops to a certain level, warning of ice and snow on the road, as well as pressure pads to utilise the energy of pedestrians on our pavements.

It might yet be a little way off but this kind of new technology in the concrete world is not light years away. Innovations such as self healing concrete are currently being tested and piloted around the world and could be used on our roads sooner than you might think.
At EasyMix Concrete we are leading suppliers of concrete, utilising a fleet of specialist vehicles to deliver concrete to you, read-mixed and to your specifications. For more information about our products and services simply contact our professional team today and we’ll be happy to help.