In 2025, Renfrewshire Council became a new Velocity client for Gilsonite® fortified Everphalt®. The Council sought to investigate first hand the benefits of preservation. The decarbonisation imperative has made preservation the hot topic in the pavement maintenance industry, with massive carbon savings available through a program of planned preventative maintenance compared to conventional reactive emergency pothole repair and premature resurfacing practice.
Barhead Road in Paisley was selected as the Council’s first pavement to be treated. It was resurfaced within the last 4 years and being in good condition was worthy of preservation. Barhead road is one of the busiest main distributor roads in Paisley. A test site area of 5,000 m2 was treated.
The huge carbon savings from preservation was a major driver for the trial by the Council. The environmental benefit of applying Everphalt® is transformative in terms of the reduction in annualised CO2 emissions generated per m2 in maintaining in-service pavement. An independent 2025 study by Anthesis, a leading data-based sustainability consultancy, concluded that use of Everphalt® generated annualised CO2 emissions savings of 87% over conventional maintenance practice.
An Everphalt® preservation treatment which typically offers at least a 5 years’ life extension uses 6x less bitumen than is consumed in a resurfacing which offers a serviceable life of 10 years, meaning the bitumen usage in Everphalt® is 3x more efficient. Furthermore, an Everphalt® treatment consumes no aggregate, often scarce high-quality granite.
An Everphalt® treatment which comprises only a preliminary sweep and a cold spray application consumes far less energy than a resurfacing involving: milling of the old failed asphalt and its crushing, grading, sorting and removal; sweeping and tack coating of the milled surface; processing of new or recycled bitumen and aggregate and their transport to an asphalt production plant; heating and mixing of the new asphalt; and its haulage to site for laying and compaction by a paver and roller. A premature resurfacing is the most emissions significant pavement maintenance event, generating 14x more emissions than those of an Everphalt® treatment.
Gavin Blogg, Velocity’s Business Development Manager comments “We are delighted to have been selected by Renfrewshire Council as its penetrative preservation partner for delivery of a rapid, safe and convenient maintenance solution. We look forward to expanding our preservation activities in 2026 to assist the Council in improving its per m2 financial and carbon emissions cost of highways maintenance“.
Graeme McClaren, Renfrewshire Council’s Statutory Inspections Supervisor for Environment, Housing and Infrastructure advises “As a progressive Council investigating new and innovative ways to lower our carbon footprint in the maintenance of our road pavement inventory, preservation soon became the obvious choice. At the same time, the preservation material’s proven product performance was non-negotiable for us. This meant that a Gilsonite® fortified material used by all the most demanding UK infrastructure owners was the obvious and optimal choice.”
