THE Irish Concrete Society is waging a campaign to persuade the National Roads Authority to switch from tarmac to concrete lord major highway construction.
It argues that this would cut the cost of maintenance and make the roads safer.
With £1.2 billion to be invested in developing the national roads network by 2000, most of it coming from EU funds, the ICS says Ireland should be following the example of other European countries.
The society is being supported by Prof Simon Perry, head of the engineering school at Trinity College Dublin, who told Technology Ireland that concrete roads are "a better product all round".
In recent British trials, they worked out cheaper, longer-lasting "and safer. Though more expensive to build than tarmac, the ICS argues that concrete roads are easier to maintain and last twice as long.
According to Prof Perry, the old problems of noise and the bumpy nature of concrete road surfaces have now been overcome.
But the National Roads Authority, which operates to technical specifications devised by the Department of the Environment, still favours tarmac on the basis of cost. It found that a concrete tender for the Northern Cross route in Dublin was "substantially more expensive" than the tarmac alternatives.
It also believes maintenance problems with concrete can be severe and that the white concrete surface is less suitable for road markings than tarmac. Also, the "paving trains" needed to lay concrete roads would have to be imported.
According to the NRA, the import content of tarmac roads is minimal, amounting to just over 16 per cent.
However, the ICS insists that concrete technology is improving all the time. "The bottom line, though, is whole-life costs," it says, citing studies in Britain showing that concrete scores highest when everything is taken into account - including initial construction costs, maintenance and use.
