As Biglorryblog I am always on the look out for interesting stories to keep you, my beloved anorak army, happy. And I am grateful to the publishers of 'Asphalt Now', the Quarry Products Association, The Refined Bitumen Association and in particular Laura Ives at HMPR for helping me bring this story to you.
Flicking through my 'Winter 2007' edition of Asphalt Now I spotted this little piece about how the main runway at Tiree Airport in the Inner Hebrides (it's just west of the Isle of Mull if you've got an atlas handy) was recently completed thanks to some demanding logistical operations and some tip-top contractors including Colas.
To get the job done first they had to charter the largest available ferry to get all the paving machinery, tippers, on-site testing laboratory and one of the UK's largest mobile asphalt plants (with an impressive production capacity of 225 tonnes per hour!) over to the Island. And naturally it meant putting it on the back of various trucks including this Daf XF and low-loader combination run by GCS Johnson of Richmond North Yorks.
Now click through here to find out the rest of the story and see some more heavy haulage movements captured on film!
According to the report in Asphalt Now "The job required precise planning in order to co-ordinate the delivery of 20,000 tonnes of aggregates and 1,000 tonnes of bitumen to keep up with the demands of the construction programme. The aggregates were supplied by barges every 2-3 days whilst the black sticky stuff came via the daily ferry."
Colas has considerable experience in working on airfields, having done similar jobs before--such as the recent Sumburgh Airport contract on the Shetland Islands for HIAL. Measuring 1,600m x 45m the 72,000sqm runway at Sumburgh was resurfaced using, for the first time in the UK, the new product called 'Betoflex'. I understand this can be manufactured and laid more quickly than traditional airfield paving materials and doesn't require grooving. Further more it provides numerous cost benefits, including considerable time and whole-life cost savings. So if you're thinking of having your drive re-done then take it from BLB, Betoflex is the stuff you should ask for!
Last but not least, and naturally keen not to be left out, one of the dock tugs joined in the work of hauling the various large bits of asphalt-making kit. What it's for I have no idea...but it certainly looks impressive. Perhaps BLB's readers who are in the tarmac business can tell me?