MAC Surfacing – When the Heat Is On: What Surfacing Contractors Should Be Thinking About

Extreme heat changes how asphalt behaves on site. The working window narrows, material arrives hotter, and existing surfaces can shove and rut. None of that is a reason to drop standards – it’s a reason to plan.

The British weather has always been one of the variables construction and highways businesses have to contend with. Periods of extreme heat are becoming more frequent, and they ask more of a surfacing job than an uncomfortable day on site.

The headlines usually talk about roads melting. That is not quite right. The binder gets softer. The existing surface can shove and rut if it is not treated carefully. Material arrives hot, and the working window changes. People are working around hot plant and an exposed carriageway. None of that is a reason to drop standards. It is a reason to plan.

What companies should be thinking about

Before anyone puts a boot on the carriageway, the forecast should already be in the plan. Working patterns can be shaped around the hottest part of the day. Welfare needs to be thought about properly: drinking water, genuine breaks, and supervisors watching for heat stress and fatigue on a physical shift.

Heat also changes how asphalt behaves. Temperature control on delivery, laying and compaction still has to sit inside the right parameters. Hot ambient temperatures can change cooling rates and the time the gang has to get the finish. That means the supplier, the wagons and the crew need to be talking to each other.

The pressure to keep a programme moving should never come ahead of safety or quality. If the conditions say the shift should change, or that it is better to wait, that is the call to make. None of this is complicated. It is just easy to skip when the job is already tight.

The standard does not move.

Whether it is a heatwave in July or a cold shift in January, the fundamentals of good surfacing stay the same. Understand the conditions, adapt the plan, and do not trade quality for a date on a programme.

Director Marc Copson said:

Roads don’t really melt. The binder gets softer, so the surface can shove and rut if you’re not careful. Plan around that. Look after the lads, watch the material, and don’t force a shift just because the programme says so.