OREANDA-NEWS. September 21, 2010. TNK-BP presented a new bitumen product TNK Alfabit at the conference of distributors held in Saratov. This new product improves the quality and wear resistance of road surfaces owing to its longer service life and decreases the cost of road services. This conference dedicated to polymer-bitumen binding materials was participated by 40 distributing companies’ representatives, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP.

The quality of surfaces of Russian roads is becoming an important and urgent problem. The integrity and durability of road surfaces are affected by unusually high temperatures in summer and considerable variation of temperature in winter. The traffic density and the share of heavy transport are growing every year, which increases the load on the road bed. The use of spiked tires results in formation of treads on roads.

The new premium product TNK Alfabit is intended to solve these problems. Wolfgang Garbe, Doctor of Chemistry and developer of TNK Alfabit, presented the product to distributors and made a speech “TNK Alfabit – a New Generation of Polymer-Bitumen Binders.” According to Dr. Garbe, innovative products can solve the road problems by improving the quality of the upper and middle layers of the road bed. Polymer-bitumen binders extend the service life of the road bed by preventing ingress of moisture into the structure and protecting lower layers from destruction. Such products will decrease road service costs by up to 30%. Participants of the conference analyzed the experience of using the polymer-bitumen binder TNK Alfabit on Russian roads and the results of its tests in leading laboratories of Europe.

“A number of urgent problems in Russia, such as, for example, reduction of costs for road services and construction of bypass roads for the service period, may be solved by using innovative products, which will reduce the number and intensity of traffic jams. Apart from that, TNK Alfabit shortens the road service period as it quickly binds with minerals and consolidates asphalt faster. The resulting road surface is characterized by higher stability and resistance to deformation, ageing and cracking at low temperatures,” said Eldar Verdiev, Head of the Performance Unit “Bitumen,” TNK-BP.

Information for editors:
The main consumers of TNK-BP’s bitumen products are road-building enterprises and the capital construction sector. Bitumen products are supplies to consumers through a network of official distributors in more than 30 regions of Russia.

Production of the polymer-bitumen binder TNK Alfabit will be increased this year by more than a half up to 36,000 tons a year. Use of TNK Alfabit with proper road—laying technologies extends the road service life from two–three years to seven-ten years compared to use of regular bitumen without interim repairs. TNK Alfabit is produced at the pilot plant of TNK-BP in Ryazan.