Surface Course Materials Guide | Glenco Civil Engineers

Normally used on footpaths, playgrounds and drive ways.
A fine close textured material that can be laid as a thin surface course often used to overlay an existing surface with a new surface course.
20-30mm is normal laying thickness.
Ideal for pedestrian areas and light domestic usage.

Normally used on drives, car parks and carriageways.
A stronger surface course and laid a little thicker 30 - 40mm in a normal thickness

A very close textured and hard wearing surface course normally used for carriageways and industrial estates where heavier usage is anticipated.
Will resist static turning from heavy vehicle and forklift trucks.
20mm precoated chippings are rolled into the surface for skid resistance.
Normally laid 35-45mm thick

Surface course material normally used for drives, car parks and carriageways.
SMA’s have been developed to withstand larger vehicles and more the more intense usage from power steering which is now standard on all vehicles.
SMA’s have a higher bitumen content and will last longer than traditional bituminous materials.
SMA’s are harder wearing and can be used in more industrial uses but also the finer 6mm SMA is aesthetically pleasing and can be used for domestic usages also.
Normally laid by machine but with the development of polymodified binders very hard wearing SMA’s can be hand laid effectively before the binders cure to leave a strong surface course.

A viscous tack is applied to specified base and a gravel is applied to the tack and compacted.
Normally there will be a portion of loose gravel to the surface in addition to that which is retained in the tack.
Aesthetically pleasing but not a strong surface as vehicles manoeuvring on the surface can pull gravel from the tack.
Some maintenance can be required and often a reapplication after some years depending on the extent of trafficking.
Ideal on relatively flat areas but not recommended for strong gradients as gravel will migrate down slopes.
Very popular in rural environments for drives and parking areas but loose gravel can be considered an issue.

This is a high end specification option for domestic or commercial applications.
Resinbound materials incorporates natural aggregate blends in a proprietary resin which is mixed on site and hand applied to a prepared base to give a very strong and durable surface course.
Advantages of this material are numerous; it has the appearance of natural stone but none of the aggregate moves or comes out of the resin. It wont discolour from sun light and is easy to maintain. The material is porous so there are drainage options available which will be SUDS compliant.
There is a stunning selection of colours due to the wide variety of natural aggregates sourced by Sureset so whatever your tastes there will be a suitable blend to compliment your project.
Sureset offer an 18 year guarantee on the performance of their resin system.
Sureset has a comprehensive website to view some of the blends www.sureset.co.uk