TopMix: super-draining asphalt

In this era of important innovations and discoveries, from Britain comes TopMix (the company that produces it is Lafarge Tarmac from Birmingham), the asphalt created to cope with the problems that arise in the event of heavy downpours.

In fact, nowadaysis quite clear that, rainfall, especially those intense or protracted, represent a big problem for the city, mainly on the streets, often prone to flooding. Despite the rules for road construction require minimum slope of 2.5% of the cross section in order to guarantee water runoff along the sewer downspouts, many times this is not enough, because you have to cope with the overflow of waste water from the wells resulting in clogged sewer flooding of roads.

In this context you insert TopMix, whose chemical composition makes that are absorbed fluids and prevents water stagnation on the surface. We talk about how, this asphalt, well able to absorb 4000 liters of water in one minute and drain it away from roads, parking lots and the sidewalks.

According to the first rumors unlike conventional concrete, it has a high void content of between 20-35%. This allows water to drain through the surface of the sub-layers and dissipate naturally, reducing the risk of surface water flooding and contamination of waterways.

TopMix permeable has an average rate of permeability of 36000 mm/h. The minimum thresholds required permeability vary greatly depending on local climate, but in a very rough, the average permeability necessary to cope with a precipitation is 300 mm/h. As the rate of permeability of this material is so large, there should be a surreal amount of dirt applied to the surface of the pavement to stop operating effectively. In fact, TopMix is designed to operate effectively when clogged up to 95%.

For now is just an invention limited to small areas, but if it were to be developed the idea of a permeable asphalt, later, in the construction of roads and highways, as well as in urban areas, then you could avoid the danger floods together with that of too many accidents.

The positive effects that the new invention seems to hope, joins the hope that TopMix not enter into that vortex of abuse of the land that is leading to far too serious consequences for the planet.

In the video are downloaded from a concrete mixer on the asphalt Topmix 4000 liters of water in a parking lot, quickly dried up by the “sponge” of the road surface.