SHELL MEXPHALTE C LT Helping to give a colourful new lease of life to New Brighton coastline in Wirral, UK

CASE STUDY: NEW BRIGHTON COASTLINE Low sea defences and decades of reduced investment had left the once-popular seaside resort of New Brighton, UK in need of attention.

In 2007, Wirral Borough Council and Planit IE In order to attract visitors back to the area, Wirral Borough landscape architects began a scheme to regenerate Council launched a £60 million renovation scheme, the the area – including the creation of an attractive, centrepiece of which being the 14 hectare stretch of promenade durable and vibrant promenade. With the help of along the neglected sea front. With strong winds from the Irish Tarmac Mastertint, incorporating Shell Mexphalte C LT, Sea bringing waves of over 40ft crashing over the low sea the seafront has been brought up to date, with a defences, any paving solution employed would have to be colourful yet natural-looking surfacing solution. durable enough to cope with the harsh weather conditions.

“In the past, these waves have caused severe damage to the The challenge promenade infrastructure, carrying away part of the existing Since its heyday in the mid 19th Century, New Brighton had seen surfacing and on occasion, leaving the promenade under water its popularity decline – with the lure of other holidaying hotspots and for up to a week”, explains Shaun Brady, Highways Asset the brighter lights of nearby cities proving sti competition for the Manager at Wirral Borough Council. seaside resort, based in the town of Wallasey in North West . The architect for the scheme, Planit IE landscape, needed a ‘Whether it’s the regeneration of urban streets, seafronts or the tough, durable solution that looked good, but could cope with creation of new cycle paths, coloured asphalt is increasingly the harsh marine conditions and retain resilience over such a being chosen by specifiers to enhance street scenes. As well large area. The sea defence wall is very low, so they required a as being visually appealing, many areas also need to be able non-porous surfacing that was smooth enough to allow seawater to deal with vehicle and pedestrian traffic, as well as severe generated by waves to run back into the estuary, rather than weather conditions, including freezing temperatures and flooding the promenade or running into the town. intense rainfall. Using the expertise of our technical team we have developed a product for Wirral BC that will do both – a practical paving solutions that is durable and tough, but that also contributes to good urban design.’

The Wirral Borough Council and New Brighton residents were not the only ones pleased with the finished waterfront, as Shaun Brady points out: ‘Not only is the new promenade surfacing able to withstand the coastal conditions, it is also more sympathetic to its surrounding and the colours really reflect those of the nearby beach.’

The solution Using Shell Mexphalte C LT as a binder, a bespoke surfacing solution was designed by Tarmac to achieve an attractive, sand-coloured finish to complement the scenery. Shell Mexphalte C LT is a polymer modified synthetic clear binder designed for use in the production of high performance coloured asphalt.

In all, 800 tonnes of coloured asphalt, manufactured with Shell Mexphalte C LT binder, were supplied by Tarmac to cover around 9 km (approx 5.6 miles) of the promenade, the sandy finish designed to emulate the colours of the New Brighton coastline.

‘Once we were satisfied with a binder course that was resistant to salt water, we developed a blend of Mastertint that would demonstrate excellent performance in the wet and sometimes harsh environment’ added James Freeman, National Special Products Manager at Tarmac.

For further information please contact your Shell Bitumen representative or visit; www.shell.com/bitumen

The Shell emblem, Multiphalte and SHELL are trade marks of the Shell Group.

08/2011/ CS5