News

After a flurry of last minute emails and a fair amount of nail biting, the Annual Southern Branch Seminar got underway in its now regular venue of Beechdown Park in Basingstoke.

Following last year’s success, the Branch was determined to continue with a face-to-face event in order to break the working from-home regime brought about by COVID.

This proved to be a welcome alternative for the 50-plus members and presenters who arrived with great enthusiasm for the ‘Sustainable Surface Treatments’ programme.

The day was chaired by IHE CEO Steve Spender and engendered a spirit of collaboration between presenters and delegates.

The morning sessions comprised:

• Surface dressing and its many variations by Steven Port of Kiely Brothers
• Carriageway in-situ recycling by Justin Osborne of Stabilised Pavements Ltd
• Restoring texture without it costing the earth by Gerald Byrne of WJ Group
• Making asphalt surface courses last longer to reduce maintenance costs and carbon using Rhino Asphalt Solutions by Dr Howard Robinson of ASI Solutions.

All the sessions were enthusiastically received by delegates – one comment from the floor described the presenters as the ‘Four Wise Men’ of the industry. Following the popular ‘American Style’ lunch provided by our hosts at Beechdown, the afternoon began with David Rogers from Kiely Brothers giving us a detailed look at The Different Types of Sustainable Surface Solutions, with particular reference to micro asphalt – a process by which asphalt deformation and potholes can be treated, restoring the surface to an acceptable running condition.

Finally, Stephen Fitzgerald, highway programme manager from Oxfordshire County Council gave an enlightening presentation based on the relationship with their framework alliance contractor, Milestone Infrastructure, under an innovative contract designed to maximise efficiencies.

Among their projects has been a series of trials to establish the best way of tackling the problem of multifarious pothole scenarios. It is to be hoped that their results will add to the efficiency of their solutions and processes, from which the sector might learn.

In summing up the day, Steve Spender praised the event and the collaboration that had been achieved through meeting face-to-face.

The Branch is indebted to all the speakers and members who attended for making it such a success.

We look forward to next year’s event and if you have any comments or topic suggestions, please email them to southern@theihe.org