Many people know Thermal Road Repairs (TRR) for our pothole fixing system, but our unique heating technology is used for other things too. Here’s a brief portrait of each of the four members of the TRR family (well, five, if you consider the twins). Although they all have a strong family resemblance, each one has its own special features.
Mr Popular: the 2m x 1m heater
The most well-known of the TRR family, this heater has been used on roads up and down the country to fix potholes and other pavement defects. The heater is computer controlled so that it heats material in and around the pothole to just the right temperature. A small amount of new material, which arrives in an on-board hot box in the same unit as the heater, is added and mixed in with the existing stuff. Compact the lot and the pothole is gone – replaced with a homogenous, long-lasting joint.
Little Ms Neat: 1m x 1m heater
The little sister can do exactly what her older sibling can (she is still very careful to treat heat the asphalt to just the right amount to avoid oxidising the bitumen which can make the road brittle) but she has a daintier footprint. Often to be found smoothing out lumpy and bumpy pavements and cycle paths – occasionally even driveways – as she tidies up troublesome trench reinstatements behind utility companies
The Twins: van-mounted heaters
These two always travel together, mounted on the side of a very slow-moving van. You will find them deployed on the longitudinal joints between the carriages of dual carriageways and motorways, using the same technology as their other family members. They are pretty busy right now, having received both a patent and approval from Highways England this year. Although Mr Popular doesn’t like to admit it, the TRR heating technology was originally created to fix joints – although the original joint-heating machine was much bigger and uglier than these two neat little fellas.
Mx Right First Time: paver-mounted heater
Although similar to the twins in some ways, this TRR family member differs from the others because they are not at all into repairs. To prevent longitudinal joints between carriageways failing at all, this heater – which can be linked to the controls of the paving machine – heats up the edge of the carriageway that has already been laid so that it’s nice and sticky when the paver lays down the next lane along. Sadly for the Twins, this means no follow-up work for them down the line.
All the members of the family are very environmentally conscious, keeping their carbon footprints to a minimum by ensuring that all the failed and failing road material can be used. The first two heaters also use solar energy to charge themselves up when they can. And they all pride themselves on a job done well – and done just once.
Thermal Road Repairs is a green technology company which supplies systems to improve the quality, cost and time efficiency of road repairs and paving – at a far lower environmental cost than traditional methods. We invest significantly in R&D, to create new technologies and to continuously improve our existing ones.
High output. Low emission. Permanent solution.