Share price:

Asphalt

Our network of asphalt plants in England, Wales and Scotland combine our aggregates with bitumen to produce a wide range of surfacing materials, including specialist products for motorways, trunk roads, airport infrastructure, driveways, footpaths, farm roads, car parks and recreational areas.



All Breedon's asphalt plants are quality assured and we supply all standard asphalts complying with European standard EN13108.

Our state-of-the-art plants are able to supply all sizes of contract from driveways to motorways.


Breedon also has a full range of proprietary asphalts in Great Britain that are specifically designed for end-use applications, resulting in a product that has enhanced performance.

Details of our most popular proprietary asphalts are below.

Find your nearest location for Asphalt



Asphalt Products



    • FAQs

      1. WHAT IS ASPHALT?

      Essentially, asphalt is a combination of aggregate (crushed rock and / or sand) and bitumen (derived from crude oil). Asphalt may also incorporate additives to improve performance (e.g. fibres, wax, polymers and pigments). Asphalt is commonly used in the construction of roads, pathways, car parks, driveways and play areas. Typically asphalt is black, but it may also be red, green, blue and golden.

      2. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ASPHALT?

      Commonly used asphalts in the UK are asphalt concretes (previously termed ‘bituminous macadams’ or ‘bitmacs’), hot rolled asphalts (HRAs), and stone mastic asphalts (SMAs). Asphalts can further be grouped into roadbase, binder and surface courses, each providing a different function in flexible pavement construction.

      3. WHAT DO THE DIFFERENT GRADES OF BITUMEN REFER TO?

      Bitumen is graded on stiffness (penetration in tenths of a mm of a 100g needle dropped onto a bitumen sample for 5 seconds at 25°C and softening point). Lower ‘pen’ value bitumens are therefore stiffer (i.e. 40/60 pen is stiffer than 160/220 pen). Lower ‘pen’ bitumens also have higher softening temperatures compared to higher ‘pen’ grades. Commonly used bitumen grades in the UK are 40/60 pen, 70/100 pen, 100/150 pen, and 160/220 pen. 100/150 pen bitumen is the preferred grade for most applications in the UK, although 40/60 is used for heavily trafficked roads, and 160/220 is often used for hand lay work as it is easier to apply.

      4. WHAT TYPE OF ASPHALT DO I REQUIRE?

      This will depend on the application which it is to be used. Our Sales Department will be able to offer advice on the most suitable types of asphalt for your requirement.

      5. WHAT ARE PROPRIETARY MATERIALS AND WHY CHOOSE THESE OVER ‘NORMAL’ ASPHALT MATERIALS?

      The Proprietary Materials offered by Breedon Group are extensively designed and rigorously tested to exceed the performances of traditionally used asphalts in specific applications. Our Proprietary Materials often include additives to achieve these high levels of operation.

      6. HOW MUCH ASPHALT DO I NEED?

      As a guide, please refer to our Material Calculator.

      7. WHAT DEPTH SHOULD I LAY ASPHALT?

      This can vary depending on the site. As a rule of thumb however, the depth should be at least 4 times the dimension of the largest nominal size in the mix for surface course (i.e. 40mm depth for 10mm asphalt concrete); and at least 2.5 times the dimension of the largest aggregate size in the mix for base and binder courses (i.e. 50mm for 20mm asphalt concrete). 

      8. CAN I LAY ASPHALT ON TOP OF EXISTING CONCRETE?

      This is not recommended. Concrete is a rigid material, whereas asphalt is flexible. When laid on top of concrete, the asphalt cannot ‘flex’, and is therefore more likely to break up. Furthermore, any joints in the concrete will be reflected into the asphalt surface above.

      9. HOW LONG DO I NEED TO STAY OFF NEWLY LAID ASPHALT?

      This will vary dependant on weather conditions. Normally however, 24 hours without trafficking will be sufficient.

      10. WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF ASPHALT?

      The main danger with asphalt is temperature. Asphalt must be laid hot (i.e. above 120°C), which subsequently can result in severe burns. Care must be taken when working with asphalt, and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) must be worn at all times.

      11. ARE THERE ANY PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN WITH FRESHLY LAID ASPHALT?

      Asphalt remains relatively soft for up to one year after laying. When used to construct driveways, it is recommended that cars are moving when the wheels are turned. If a car is stationary when the wheels are turned (particularly with modern power steering), the asphalt can be displaced and scuffed by stresses applied at that particular point. It is also recommended that (wherever possible) vehicles are parked in different positions to avoid marking the asphalt, and fuel spillages are kept to a minimum.

      12. WHAT SIZES OF DELIVERY VEHICLES ARE AVAILABLE?

      We can supply asphalt in either 16 tonne (‘six wheeler’) or 20 tonne (‘eight wheeler’) loads. Alternatively, customers can collect any size of order above 1 tonne.

      13. HOW LONG WILL THE ASPHALT REMAIN HOT?

      This will be weather dependant. Provided the asphalt is suitably covered and insulated, asphalt should remain workable for 2 hours after production.

      14. WHAT EQUIPMENT WILL I NEED TO LAY ASPHALT?

      For hand laying, minimum requirements would be heavy-duty wheel barrows, asphalt rakes, mechanical ‘ride-on’ twin-drum roller, asphalt tamper. For larger projects, specialist machinery will be needed and advice should be sought from paving machinery manufacturers.

      15. SHOULD I USE EDGING?

      Yes. Unconfined asphalt without edging is more likely to fail than asphalt which has suitable edge protection. 

      16. HOW CAN I PLACE AN ORDER?

      Orders can be taken over the telephone by our Sales Department, by fax, in person at any of our depots, or in writing.

      17. HOW CAN I OPEN AN ACCOUNT?

      Please contact our Sales Department for information.

    • Customer support

      For further information please call your local sales office:

      Hebrides: 01851 703227
      Highlands: 01463 716889
      Fife & Tayside: 01337 841989
      North East Scotland: 01330 833361
      Argyll: 01631 565128
      Central Scotland: 01698 611016
      South West Scotland & Cumbria: 01290 700777
      North East England: 0191 6153378
      Staffordshire, Shropshire & West Midlands: 01952 777910
      South Cumbria & Lancashire: 01995 676156
      North West England & Greater Manchester: 01942 441286
      North Wales & Cheshire: 01978 788880
      North / West Yorkshire: 01138 293006
      South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire: 01302 944066
      South Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire & Northamptonshire: 01332 694000
      Humberside (concrete): 01472 351987
      Lincolnshire: 01780 482000
      East Anglia: 08454 135258
      South West (Bristol, Gloucester and Wilts): 02920 609777
      South East England: 01245 913063
      South Wales: 02920 609777
      Powys & Shropshire: 01568 770521
      Herefordshire & Gloucestershire: 01594 530208

    • Certification


    Our use of cookies

    We use cookies for website performance, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services.

    For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie policy


    Analytics cookies

    We’d like to set Google Analytics cookies to help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone.

    For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie policy

    :