Rhinophalt FAQ

1. What is Rhinophalt?
2. Is Rhinophalt a one-off treatment?
3. Where can Rhinophalt be used?
4. Can Rhinophalt be used on high speed roads?
5. Is Rhinophalt approved?
6. Who currently preserves their asphalt?
7. How will using Rhinophalt benefit me?
8. Why should I move to preventative maintenance?
9. Is Rhinophalt a safer option than conventional methods?
10. Is Rhinophalt value for money?
11. Can ASI prove the longevity of Rhinophalt?
12. Is Rhinophalt guaranteed?
13. When should Rhinophalt be applied?
14. Why would I use Rhinophalt on an old surface?
15. What preparation is required prior to the application of Rhinophalt?
16. How is the Skid Resistance Value (SRV) affected by Rhinophalt?
17. How is the texture depth affected by Rhinophalt?
18. Can Rhinophalt fail or damage an asphalt or macadam surface?
19. What can the Rhinophalt process do for surface dressing?
20. Can Rhinophalt be hand-applied?
21. Is the application of Rhinophalt weather dependant?
22. How long does Rhinophalt take to cure?
23. What are the Co₂ emissions from the solvent in the Rhinophalt material?
24. What other environmental benefits can the Rhinophalt process deliver?
25. How do I assess if a site is suitable for Rhinophalt?
26. How will I know that the Rhinophalt process will be properly installed?

Process and Product Understanding

What is Rhinophalt?

Rhinophalt is a unique, innovative and sustainable method of making bituminous bound surfaces, like asphalt, macadam and surface dressing, last longer.Likened to a ‘wood preservative’ for asphalt, Rhinophalt is a cold spay, rapid cure surface treatment which penetrates into the bituminous material and protects the surface against the damaging effects of frost, water ingress, weathering and oxidisation. Additionally, following the chemical re-engineering of the existing binder, Rhinophalt seals in the oils and resins which are essential to retain the flexibility of the treated surface.Rich in Gilsonite, a naturally occurring 99% pure mineral asphalt, Rhinophalt effectively delays the deterioration of a treated pavement by around 5 years.
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Is Rhinophalt a one-off treatment?

Rhinophalt is completely sustainable, ASI recommend that the Rhinophalt treatment is repeated every 4 to 5 years. Regular reapplication will continue to delay the deterioration of the asphalt or macadam asset.
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Where can Rhinophalt be used?

Rhinophalt can be used anywhere where there is a bituminous bound surface, this includes roads and highways, airfields, car parks and pedestrian infrastructure.
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Can Rhinophalt be used on high speed roads?

The Rhinophalt proprietary process has been specifically designed for use on high speed roads where comprehensive testing to treated areas has demonstrated satisfactory readings for both skid resistance and texture depth.
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Is Rhinophalt approved?

Rhinophalt holds full BBA and HAPAS approval.
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Who currently preserves their asphalt?

• DBFO companies.
• Super Agencies.
• Local authorities.
• Commercial and civil airfields
• Retail parks and supermarkets e.g. Tesco, Costco, and Land Securities.

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Benefits

How will using Rhinophalt benefit me?

Rhinophalt ensures that the asset that you own, or are responsible for, lasts much longer and with the growing divide between maintenance costs and available budgets, these benefits can only increase with time.
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Why should I move to preventative maintenance?

Historic records have clearly demonstrated that preventative maintenance is 10 times less expensive than reactive measures. Additionally, the environmental benefits and minimisation to road disruption that can be attained through the adoption of a proactive approach are enormous.
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Health & safety

Is Rhinophalt a safer option than conventional methods?

With the associated reduction in disruption from road works, there is a very strong HSE argument supporting the use of Rhinophalt. Additionally, with the preserved condition of the treated pavement, the subsequent reduction in potholes and other road surface defects can only result in a safer infrastructure generally.
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Cost

Is Rhinophalt value for money?

Rhinophalt is very competitively priced. Cost comparisons against conventional resurfacing show in excess of 50% savings in all applications and in some cases as much as 80% savings have been recognised. Given the ever increasing cost of new asphalt and macadam materials, these savings are only going to become bigger in the future.
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Technical

Can ASI prove the longevity of Rhinophalt?

Worldwide, Rhinophalt has been installed on over 1.5 billion square metres of road, airfield and pedestrian infrastructure and holds a proven track record of sustainable maintenance. In the UK alone we have 26 year old asphalt surfaces which remain in excellent condition following Rhinophalt application, and we have sites in the USA which are now 40 years old and still going strong. We are happy to provide more information on these case studies upon request.
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Is Rhinophalt guaranteed?

Rhinophalt has a 3 year surface guarantee where ASI will guarantee that that the surface treated with Rhinophalt will remain in a better condition than a non-treated controlled comparative.
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When should Rhinophalt be applied?

In order to retain the most value out of the asset, Rhinophalt is best applied to roads that are in good condition. Notwithstanding this, Rhinophalt can be used effectively to retard the deterioration of bituminous bound surfaces in any condition as part of individual asset management strategies.
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Why would I use Rhinophalt on an old surface?

Ideally, Rhinophalt would initially be used to preserve asphalt in its early life, but Asset Managers often use the process to preserve bituminous surfaces which are in the latter stages of their functional life. This option may be taken due to changes in surfacing programmes or where resurfacing budgets are not available thus forcing the Asset Manager to find a way of getting a few more years life out of the affected pavement.
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What preparation is required prior to the application of Rhinophalt?

The area to be treated needs to be clean and dry with a minimum surface temperature of 5°C. Catseyes and ironwork should be masked and any affected road markings can be replaced once the Rhinophalt treatment has cured.
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How is the Skid Resistance Value (SRV) affected by Rhinophalt?

Following initial application, there will be a slight increase in skid resistance due to the Black Rhino grit spread onto the uncured Rhinophalt. This is followed, for a short period of time, by a slight reduction in the pre-treated SRV figures, around 5%, although after around 60,000 vehicle passes these SRV values return to the pre-treated levels.
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How is the texture depth affected by Rhinophalt?

The HAPAS accreditation testing showed little, if any, change in the texture depths on all types of asphalt and macadam surfaces. Subsequent texture depth testing has remained consistent with these findings.
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Can Rhinophalt fail or damage an asphalt or macadam surface?

The impregnated Rhinophalt treatment becomes an integral part of the surface material and, consequently, there is nothing to fail, much like creosote in wood. Additionally, comprising of natural mineral asphalt, there is nothing within the Rhinophalt material that could cause any realistic form of damage to the treated pavement.
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What can the Rhinophalt process do for surface dressing?

Rhinophalt can be used very effectively on surface dressing as it prevents deterioration through oxidisation of the bitumen binder. Additionally, the Rhinophalt treatment can help to prevent the bitumen rich dressing from ‘bleeding’ in hot weather due to the excellent heat resistant properties of the gilsonite.
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Can Rhinophalt be hand-applied?

Rhinophalt materials can be applied with a hand lance for small areas, or sites with restricted access.
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Is the application of Rhinophalt weather dependant?

Rhinophalt needs to be applied to a dry surface with a road temperature between 5 and 60°C.
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How long does Rhinophalt take to cure?

The curing time of Rhinophalt will be determined by ambient temperatures, experience has shown this period to be between 1.5 to 2.5 hours.
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Environmental

What are the Co₂ emissions from the solvent in the Rhinophalt material?

Independent environmental studies have been undertaken in comparing the use of Rhinophalt to conventional road maintenance. Historic records have demonstrated that with the pro-active use of 2 Rhinophalt treatments it is likely to double the functional life of an asphalt or macadam surface. To this regard, the use of Rhinophalt will deliver a staggering 94% reduction in Co₂ emissions when compared with a traditional re-surfacing alternative.
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What other environmental benefits can the Rhinophalt process deliver?

The Rhinophalt preserved surfaces will minimise the occurrence of potholes and other surface defects which will deliver substantial environmental benefits. Any minimisation of re-surfacing will also deliver tremendous environmental benefits with regard to minimised natural aggregate extraction, eliminated waste and vastly reduced disruption to the road user and the general public.
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Procurement

How do I assess if a site is suitable for Rhinophalt?

While Rhinophalt will work on all bituminous bound surfaces, specific levels of site sustainability will be determined by the relevant asset management strategy together with the existing surface conditioning of the proposed pavement. ASI remain freely available to offer assistance to this regard.
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How will I know that the Rhinophalt process will be properly installed?

ASI do not undertake contracting works themselves, all Rhinophalt contracting work is undertaken by carefully chosen Authorised Installers using computerised application equipment and pre-agreed method statements to ensure that the project is completed correctly, efficiently and professionally.
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