Given the unprecedented rate of growth in air travel at all Irish airports, it becomes clear that the sustainable maintenance of the aviation infrastructure is fundamental to the smooth operation of airports where any form of disruption can deliver a dramatic adverse situation.

With asphalt, macadam and concrete surfaces to maintain, the airport asset manager has a number of different maintenance problems to contend with in varying locations including access roads, hard standing, taxiways and runways. To this end, it is essential that the chosen maintenance solutions are sustainable and ‘right first time’ whilst minimising site disruption.

With the successful treatment of over 25 million square metres of airfield infrastructure worldwide, ranging from Pacific Islands to Iceland, Rhinophalt has provided a sustainable solution to both concrete and bituminous surface on private, commercial, international and military airfields. Showing full regard to cost, performance and the environment, Rhino RSS's sustainable technology delivers these innovative asset management solutions with the minimum of disruption.

With a population in Ireland approaching 5 million, pedestrian surfaces are an essential part of the nations’ infrastructure. Ranging from footpaths, to town centres, playgrounds and any non-vehicular bituminous surface, it is vitally important that these assets are maintained in a safe and sustainable manner with minimal disruption to the general public users.

Unfortunately, these pedestrian surfaces often play ’second fiddle’ to vehicular infrastructure when it comes to maintenance budgets and in many cases any work is undertaken on a reactive and temporary basis brought about through the fear of compensation claims due to potholes and other general surface degradation. At the front end of adverse ‘repetitive pothole’ publicity, these pedestrian surfaces become so bad that the only option is costly resurfacing, with the associated disruption, after which time the non-sustainable and problematic degradation cycle starts again.

The use of Rhino RSS’s innovative maintenance technology can immediately halt the deterioration to pedestrian surfaces and preserve these assets in a safe and sustainable manner with minimal disruption to the general public users.

The effective maintenance of this essential transport infrastructure, with minimal disruption, remains a key objective for the rail Asset Manager.

Much of this infrastructure, like car parks and platforms, is constructed with a bituminous bound surface material.

The maintenance of rail car parks can be extremely disruptive to travellers and costly to the rail operator through the loss of passenger movements and revenue from the ‘pay and display’ car park. Asphalt repair and replacement on station platforms can have dramatic cost and disruption consequences due to restricted access, limited working hours and track closures.

The use of Rhino RSS’s asphalt repair and preservation technology can ensure that the functional life of car park surfaces are significantly extended and maintained in a safe and functional manner. Platform surfaces can be repaired and preserved without the need for waste removal and bulk material supply and these proprietary works can be completed with minimised disruption to travellers.

Surface car parks form an essential part of transport infrastructure. Ranging from long term areas at airports to short term parking at retail parks or town centres, users expect these facilities to be serviceable and freely accessible. Obviously, due to the nature of the asset, any surface maintenance disruption can be extremely damaging with many engineers struggling to balance surface condition with free access.

Additionally, with the likes of retail parks and shopping centres, the surface car park is the first thing customers see and can often influence their overall impression of the facility. Degrading surfaces and potholes, apart from the health & safety considerations, can persuade members of the general public to spend their money elsewhere and can have a direct effect on retail profits.

The adoption of Rhino RSS’s sustainable and environmentally friendly maintenance technology can ensure that surface car parks remain in good condition and the aesthetically pleasing preservation processes can extend the life of this valuable asset to the benefit of cost, disruption and the general public.

Spread between electricity, gas, water and communications, Ireland has hundreds of thousands of kilometres of underground utilities servicing the nation. A large percentage of this pipe-work and ducting lies beneath our roads and footpaths where there is on-going disruption brought about by the repair, renewal or installation of these essential services.

Traditional utility reinstatement methods can be unsightly, non-sustainable and environmentally unfriendly. The use of temporary materials and failed reinstatements requiring additional new materials creates further disruption to the road user and general public.

Utilising Rhino RSS’s HAPAS approved infra-red technology and proprietary recycling materials, the removal and tipping of temporary reinstatement material becomes a thing of the past as this material can be heat welded into the surrounding surface to effect a permanent reinstatement. Additionally, failed reinstatements can simply be re-profiled without the need for any waste and with a 90% reduction in replacement materials. The elimination of all surface joints, and associated overseal banding, is another benefit of Rhino RSS’s Rhinopatch process which is highly regarded by maintenance engineers and the general public alike. Further opportunity is available with Rhino RSS’s cold recycling materials where, potentially, all excavated bituminous material from utility openings could be re-used for the sustainable elimination of waste.