SAVING LIVES AND INFRASTRUCTURE ONE ROAD AT A TIME

Establishing high quality pavement surfacing goes a long way towards minimising traffic hazards across Australian roads.

All levels of government in Australia are responsible for road safety. Australia’s National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30 represents all governments’ pledge to deliver significant reductions in road trauma, which includes key priorities for action and targets to reduce the annual number of fatalities by at least 50 percent and serious injuries by at least 30 percent by 2030. The Strategy focuses on strengthening all elements of our road transport system under three key themes: Safe roads, safe vehicles and safe road use.

Committed to assisting in the development of safer roads, Global Road Maintenance Systems (GRMS) has developed a high friction surfacing system, OzGrip HF, that helps motorists maintain better control in both dry and wet driving conditions.

WHAT IS HFST?
High friction surfacing treatment (HFST), also known as antiskid treatments, is a pavement surfacing system that is comprised of calcined bauxite, which has been bonded to the pavement surface using a resin. It is primarily engineered to reduce skidding related incidents and reduce vehicle stopping distances, in turn, decreasing threshold impact speeds.
Suitable for application on asphalt, chip seal, concrete and steel, good HFST systems should ensure the skid resistance value remains stable for the life of the design. The resin used must also hold the aggregate permanently in position, even under heavy braking conditions, to ensure the efficacy and longevity of the surface.

THE GRMS DIFFERENCE
As the largest and most successful HFS installer across Australia, GRMS’s surfacing system, OzGrip HF, has been designed to dramatically increase pavement friction. A flexible two-part, cross-linking, self-levelling epoxy system, OzGrip HF affords an excellent bond to the designated surface and prolongs the life of the substrate.

Free of carcinogenic, solvent and aromatic oils, OzGrip HF is designed and engineered in Australia. A cost-effective solution to road resurfacing on existing roads, it is suitable to install during short timeframes of two to four hours, helping to minimise road closures and keep traffic flowing safely.

Highly versatile, OzGrip HF can be coloured for delineation purposes, giving it a high design life. Line marking can be applied directly to the surface, or existing lines can be preserved during installation. Sitting well above Australian Standards for PSV, OzGrip HF has proven statistics in accident reductions.

OZGRIP HF IN ACTION
Recently engaged by Fulton Hogan, a large infrastructure construction company, GRMS was contracted to reinstate the high friction surface treatment on Rouen Road in Toowong, Queensland, on behalf of the Department of Main Roads. Having installed the original surface treatment 17 years ago, GRMS was ideally positioned to upgrade the roadway.

The job required HFST to be applied to the new asphalt substrate to reinstate the surface friction required for this section of road. As Rouen Road is a main thoroughfare through the area, traffic diversion was necessary to complete the works in a timely manner and manage vehicle flow. GRMS completed the project across three shifts, improving surface friction and increasing road user safety in the process.