Petition to stop the use of SMA

[mruss5891]

Road Surfaces – We Need Your Help NOW!!

Have you, or any of your family members, been involved in a motorcycle or scooter crash that you believe was caused by the use of the road surface material Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA).


petition - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SMAsphalt/

not sure if you guys have already done this, ive just done it, this issue defo effects me, my dad was killed in a low speed accident because of this sh*te that they put on the road, and im sure plenty of us know people that have at least had an off on it!

Thanks

Marc

[Scoobs]

Sorry to hear about your dad Marc, but what is Stone Mastic Asphalt.

[mruss5891]

its the cheap stuff they use to resurface the road after digging it up, just gravel laid and left to be pushed in by cars, bt never really works!! supose it depends where you ride as to wether of not youve seen it......

my dad lost control on this after riding bikes for 20 odd years, at slow speed on a road he knew extremely well, the same road (for example) has seen at least 5 other bikers fall off and a few car accidents purely because this gravel is not good enough, one of which the driver was killed (although it was believed he was going to fast). The bikers have all been slow speed accidents, it was just unfortunate my dad was kicked off into the path of an oncoming car. If the car hadnt been there, it would have just been a case of getting up, having a good swear, and maybe a kick of the bike!!lol!

Marc

[454697819]

its the cheap stuff they use to resurface the road after digging it up, just gravel laid and left to be pushed in by cars, bt never really works!! supose it depends where you ride as to wether of not youve seen it......

my dad lost control on this after riding bikes for 20 odd years, at slow speed on a road he knew extremely well, the same road (for example) has seen at least 5 other bikers fall off and a few car accidents purely because this gravel is not good enough, one of which the driver was killed (although it was believed he was going to fast). The bikers have all been slow speed accidents, it was just unfortunate my dad was kicked off into the path of an oncoming car. If the car hadnt been there, it would have just been a case of getting up, having a good swear, and maybe a kick of the bike!!lol!

Marc


I think there is some confusion here

stone mastic asphalt is used on roads where a lower noise level is required as it uses 25 mm stones.mixed with tarmacadam. this in its self has suffered critasism due to its poor or lower co efficiance of friction..

the spec ur talking about is tar and chippings.. yes its awfull but its not SMA.

Regards

Alex

[mruss5891]

I think there is some confusion here

stone mastic asphalt is used on roads where a lower noise level is required as it uses 25 mm stones.mixed with tarmacadam. this in its self has suffered critasism due to its poor or lower co efficiance of friction..

the spec ur talking about is tar and chippings.. yes its awfull but its not SMA.

Regards

Alex

ohoh! i thought it was the same stuf!!

Marc

[Ceri JC]

It takes an age for this stuff to actually stick to the road and during that time, it provides bugger all grip (so much so that I've seen NSL and 50 roads with temporary 20 signs). I've driven on it many times (used to live near a stretch of road where they used it) and even in a car it's hairy- you basically have to treat it like ice.

I've only come across it on a bike a couple of times. I'd describe the experience as akin to riding with patches of ice on the road. It's bad enough when it's clearly signposted, but at least once I've come across it with no prior warning.

Very sorry to hear about your dad mruss.

EDIT: Talking about stone chippings, not SMA!

[timwilky]

SMA is bad news. My understanding is that after it has been laid, vehicles on it cause an oil to be exuded from the material and therefore make it like driving on ice. no grip. I think it takes about 6 months from laying before it is save to ride on

[mruss5891]

SMA is bad news. My understanding is that after it has been laid, vehicles on it cause an oil to be exuded from the material and therefore make it like driving on ice. no grip. I think it takes about 6 months from laying before it is save to ride on

yep, so is a good idea to sign anyway guys!! the more i think about it, i think this is the stuf i had a wee bump on at the start of the year in my car!! couldnt understand why i hadna stopped! but the more i read about this stuf (seen as its not what i originaly thought it was!) does seem like that was what was on the road!! :smt093

[Born again]

Signed..........

[CB1ROCKET]

is the chipping the one you see on triangle signs at roadworks indicating loose chippings are present?

[Rog]

Being a highway engineer, i thought I would add my two pennies;

SMA or Stone Mastic Alsphalt is used more commonly then any other surfacing as it offers the best noise reduction. The reason for this is that it employs a "reverse texture". The best way to describe it is to imagine a cheese grater. The grating side is like normal old fashioned Hot Rolled asphalt with the lumps being the stones. Turn the grater over and now the depressions are the gaps between the stones ala SMA and its these depressions which absorb the noise making it quieter. In the dry the grip is about the same but in the wet with SMA you can get water retention in the deppressions, especially on flat roads. There is also concern amongst engineers over the first bad winter we have with a prolonged cold spell with black ice, as the feeling is that for the very same reason as the rain problem there is a risk it will become, put simply, bloody dangerous.


THe Stuff that unfortunately you dad died on is called surface dressing. IT seems that it is getting used more and more these days as a cheap repair when originally it was only used on low use country roads. Councils are always looking to cut the budget for maintenance and I can only guess that the engineers thought that to surface dress the road was better than leaving it in the state it was previously in with the little money they had.

The comment was made about the seepage of oils from SMA during the first month or so. This is partly right but applies to all surfacing not just SMA. when first laid there are residual oils left in the surfacing which only come out when it has been trafficked for a while. THere is no way at the moment to artificially age aurfacing at the moment, so if you know a road has recently been relayed take it easy for a few weeks.