Asphalt roads play a very important role in every day’s life. Many people are using asphalt roads daily without even realising it.
When we travel to work, school, or to meet friends and relatives we use the road. Roads provide door to door access to both commerce and recreation as well as to other modes of transport.
The food, drink, and consumer goods we use every day are brought to us by road.
Without our road network, life as we know it today could not exist.
About 90% of all paved roads are paved with asphalt. Asphalt provides road users, from trucks to pedestrians, a consistent, safe and durable surface for their journeys, whether local or across the entire continent.
Roads are the most used mode of transport. Recent figures regarding transport of inland goods and passengers show that over 70% of our goods and 80% of passengers travel by road, rather than rail, air or water. Within the European road network there are around 5.5 million km of paved roads connecting people.
Roads are needed and they need to be maintained
The key task of road authorities is to develop and maintain a road network that provides unobstructed and safe transit in all kinds of weather. Roads support the prosperity, productivity and competitiveness of our communities and commercial activities. At the same time we need to be aware of the cost and environmental impact of road building and road maintenance. In addition, a well-maintained road surface produces lower rolling resistance, which makes possible up to 5% reductions in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions for passing vehicles.
The members of the European asphalt and bitumen industry are aware of the challenges in meeting the needs of society, both now and for future generations. For that reason the asphalt industry developed new types of asphalt that provide a safe, sustainable, silent and comfortable road surface.
It’s the aim of the European asphalt industry to ensure that the solutions provided meet and exceed expectations in the key areas of safety, comfort and sustainability
