Whisper-Grip®
- Safer and less noisy
- Skid resistant enhancing and noise reducing
- Road surface dressing
- No more skidding
The three main problems with our roads
- A lack of skid resistance has been identified in accident analyses as one of the main causes for road accidents by departments for road safety and transport. The number of accidents correlates directly to the number of vehicle registrations. In order to “identify” the high risk areas the skid resistance properties of the entire motorway road network in Germany has been SCRIM-tested. Depending on the wearing course aggregate type and the Polished Stone Value (PSV), a significant part of the motorway network is classed as being at “caution level”, if not at “threshold level”. Should investigations prove that road sections with a lack of skidresistance cause a significant increase in accidents in wet road conditions, immediate action must be taken. Whisper-Grip®, the new road surface treatment based on reactive resins and special aggregates provides the solution. (Complies with German regulations ZTV-BEB-StB 02, German regulation for rehabilitation of concrete roads).
- Noise pollution caused by tyres. Traffic noise is “the bane of modern life”. New guidelines and regulations over the last few years have led to vast improvements in passive noise protection. However, noise barriers don’t always meet the necessary economical and ecological criteria. That’s why active noise protection should be of prime importance. The aim must always be noise reduction at source. An optimised, quiet road surface can be achieved with Whisper-Grip®.
- Traffic obstructions as a result of road maintenance works will increase even more in the future. A quick and economic surface dressing system such as Whisper-Grip® benefits highway maintenance, organizations, drivers and all other road users.
And their fast and economic remedy
The Whisper-Grip® Safety Concept
Worn and polished road surfaces can achieve micro and macro texture by the application of Whisper-Grip®. The micro texture gives the road surface profile peaks, i.e. the area in contact with the tyre which increases friction between tyre and road surfaces. A macro roughness between 0.2 and 3 mm provides the road surface with excellent drainage properties that are comparable with open-pored asphalt, where excess water quickly drains away below the surface.
Whisper-Grip® surface dressings are characterised by optimised micro and macro roughness that provide strong grip and excellent skid resistance. Tests have shown that grip and skid resistance values between 50 and 55 SRT result in twice as many accidents on wet roads compared with a value of 60 SRT. Whisper-Grip® however provides grip values between 70 and 85 SRT. Even with regard to SCRIM measurements or the Stuttgart-frictionmeasurements friction values have been found to be excellent – the deciding factor in the elimination of aquaplaning. It is also been demonstrated by statistical analyses that accident numbers are drastically reduced where Whisper-Grip® has been applied.
Tyre noise reduction through Whisper-Grip®
The main cause of traffic noise is the noise generated by the rolling contact between the tyre and the road surface. Heavy noise pollution occurs when cars travel at only 30 km/h and trucks at around 60 km/h and above already.
On Whisper-Grip® wearing courses the tyre noise is significantly reduced due to a surface that is much more finelystructured. Noise measurements accompanied by frequency analyses demonstrate this strikingly (see diagram on page 7). In bridge construction alternative noise protection measures are frequently impractical. Here tyre noise can often only be reduced by applying Whisper-Grip® surface dressing.
