In Global Graphene Group’s home state of Ohio, it is often joked that there are four seasons: winter, construction prep, actual construction and construction wrap-up. When orange cones are lined along the side of the road, Ohioans know they’re in for months of construction fun. There are some highways that seem to always be under construction. When one project ends, another starts.
Ohio is not unique. The US spends billions per year on asphalt ($45B alone on publicly funded highways). Our country has over eight million miles of highways. That’s a lot of asphalt! And a downfall of asphalt is it needs frequent maintenance. (Potholes, am I right?) Asphalt’s impact on the environment is significant, from the production phase through construction, lifetime use and then replacement.
Asphalt can greatly benefit from the addition of graphene:
- Reduced emissions during asphalt’s production by 33%
- Increased strength of the asphalt by 30+%
- Reduced weight and installation costs by a third
Just a tiny amount of graphene leads to using a third of the asphalt to complete a project. An addition of 0.5% of graphene to asphalt can dramatically increase its performance and lower its impact to the environment. Graphene in asphalt makes it more sustainable, meaning there is more time between those construction phases on the road.
Money can be saved at the formation of asphalt. It also saves on transporting it to a site, installing, curing and maintaining it. Graphene-infused asphalt has an increased water resistance. And it has the same strength of traditional asphalt while using a third of the material. It’s like adding super hero powers to the asphalt!
The added strength, durability and moisture resistance leads to less maintenance needed on the roadways. This leads to a huge reduction in infrastructure costs. That $45B annual publicly funded spend suddenly decreases and can be used for other projects. Drivers everywhere rejoice when the orange cones don’t appear along the side of the road in the spring. Graphene makes dreams come true.
Want more information on our graphene-infused asphalt solutions? Contact us at [email protected].