Cemex Introduces Vialayer - New Advanced Asphalt Solution To Help Local Authorities Improve Durability of Urban Roads And Reduce Road Maintenance Costs

Vialayer is an enhanced Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) surface course which has been specially developed to provide an advanced high grade solution against the main causes of road defects in urban environments.  Using a combination of a selected aggregate grading and a high volume of Polymer Modified Bitumen Vialayer can help local authorities to reduce the frequency and cost of maintenance needed for pavements, and highly trafficked roads. It also offers greater flexibility allowing it to absorb the stresses of urban traffic and withstand the impact of slow, heavy-moving vehicles like buses in bus lanes. 

Scott Jones, Director of Asphalt, Cemex UK said: “With Vialayer we have worked hard to provide a solution to help local authorities manage their ever increasing maintenance costs. According to a recent Government report, road maintenance has dropped to the lowest level in five years, putting local councils under a tremendous amount of pressure to reduce spending and allocate resources efficiently. With less money available to carry out road maintenance, councils must be confident in the materials they use for projects, without causing greater expenses in the future.

“Many urban streets were built for much lower traffic volumes than they experience today, with limited capacity for increased thickness. Often when maintenance work is carried out, it creates trenches which, when overlaid with conventional asphalt mixes, can lead to problems with reflective cracking. This significantly reduces the lifespan of the asphalt surface, causing the same problems to re-occur frequently, often within months of the work being completed. Vialayer offers a highly effective solution to this growing problem. It also exhibits very low noise from the road and tyre interface as a result of the negative textured surface – which is beneficial in an urban environment. By cutting down the ongoing road maintenance requirements, Vialayer also will contribute to reduced traffic delays for busy towns and streets.”

Cemex is committed to developing a more sustainable approach to road and highway maintenance and construction, through continued investment into innovation and circularity, by incorporating waste sources from other streams into its materials. In tandem, the company is focussed on the advancement of its portfolio of more sustainable asphalt products and solutions. These demonstrate lower carbon embodiedment, use of recycled materials and increased water conservation to meet customer and environmental demand; ultimately building a better future for everyone.

The launch of Vialayer asphalt, follows the introduction of Viaflex SAMI (Stress Alleviating Membrane Interlayer), earlier this year, which is specifically designed for overlays onto concrete, cement bound bases or where movement of underlying pavement layers is likely.

Viaflex SAMI offers an extremely flexible asphalt mix designed to absorb stresses caused by natural thermal movement and high trafficking, and sees Cemex continue to broaden its portfolio of Asphalt products and solutions targeted at bringing innovative solutions to everyday challenges faced across the construction, infrastructure and highways industries.

Both Vialayer and Viaflex SAMI are available as part of Cemex’s Urbanisation Asphalt Solutions portfolio. For more information on Cemex’s full range of asphalt urbanisation solutions visit: https://www.cemex.co.uk/asphalt-range

Notes to Editors: 

Cemex has the primary objective to become a net-zero CO2 company by 2050. The company’s road to decarbonisation is guided by Cemex’s Future in Action climate action strategy, to achieve sustainable excellence through climate action, circularity, and natural resource management.

Cemex announced its Climate Action strategy; ‘Future in Action – Committed to Net Zero CO2’ in February 2020, along with updated targets in November 2022 and as part of this, by 2030 it plans:

• To be below 430kg of CO2 per ton of cementitious material, equivalent to a 47% reduction*.

• To reduce the carbon content per cubic meter of concrete to 150kg, equivalent to a 41% reduction.

• To reduce Scope 2 electricity emissions to 24 kg CO2/t cementitious by 2030

• To reduce Scope 3 transport emissions by 30% by 2030.

• For Vertua lower-carbon to account for majority (50%+) of cement and concrete sales by 2025.

• To manage up to 40M tons of waste per year by 2030.

* According to our 1990 baseline

Cemex R&D, Innovation and Business Development projects are part of the global R&D collaboration network, headed by CEMEX Research Centers, based in Switzerland.

About Cemex:

Cemex is a global construction materials company that is building a better future through sustainable products and solutions. Cemex is committed to achieving carbon neutrality through relentless innovation and industry-leading research and development. Cemex is at the forefront of the circular economy in the construction value chain and is pioneering ways to increase the use of waste and residues as alternative raw materials and fuels in its operations with the use of new technologies.

Cemex offers cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, and urbanisation solutions in growing markets around the world, powered by a multinational workforce focused on providing a superior customer experience, enabled by digital technologies.

For more information please visit: www.cemex.com