Cyclist friend, we have talked about the importance of cycling lanes for you to circulate safely, but… What about the pavement for bike ways? Maybe you don’t know but, this is important for your protection when cycling.
In today’s tour, we will talk more about this material. After all, their advantages and features influence in your performance and cycling infrastructure.
You already know it, make sure to bring your helmet, and if you prefer it, a snack to recover your strength in the path.
What is it and what is for the bike way pavement?
Pavement for bike ways is a mixture of special materials used for the creation of cycling lanes. It can be made of asphalt, concrete or rubber.
Their main feature is to have a soft and comfortable bearing surface. This is essential for a better, quicker and easier manage of bicycle. It’s essential, that despite humidity, it is non- skid.
How is it applied?
The cycle path is placed in shared areas with motorized vehicles, must maintain the structure of the road.
If required a new space for cycling lane, meaning, it will require a new pavement. Before applying asphalt mixture, must apply asphalt irrigation of low viscosity (primer) for waterproofing, avoid capillarity, cover and link the loosen particles and provide adhesion between granular base and wearing course. When cycle path is placed on existent pavement, before pouring the mixture, must apply asphalt emulsion called tack coat. This will produce the necessary adherence between paved surface and the asphalt surface that will cover it.
Features of pavement for bike ways
There are many features that bike way pavement must have to be considered functional. Its more than a mixture, it works to mark cycling lanes, but also provide a road to bike users. Among their particularities, must have:
- Smooth and non-skid surface: Independently if is manufactured with asphalt, concrete or rubber, the mixture must be placed on even surface, in addition must be non-skid in humid or rainy conditions.
- Avoid the use of stones: even though some mixtures use granite stones or paving, these are pretty uncomfortable, skid, and irregular for cyclists, thus, aren’t recommended. In case of use them, rocks must be placed with their most smooth and regular part to the road surface.
- Indelible: must allow paint to maintain on it. The aim is to mark the crossing areas (cyclists and pedestrians) without bleach them easily.
- Life span: even though can be soft, must have necessary resistance to withstand the weight of heavy vehicles, such as cars and trucks, that inevitably, will pass by cycle path.
- Visible and resistant to heat: It’s recommended a mixture of a different color from road or sidewalk, the purpose if differentiate the cycling lane from vehicle passage or pedestrian crossing. Likewise, some cities with high temperatures are covered with cold green paint, that reflect sun rays better and reduce the asphalt temperature.
What about rain?
When rain or exists any water leak, unfortunately is normal to find flooded bike ways. Many times, this depends of urban planning and not too much of road surface.
However, this last also ease cyclist circulate even in these conditions. For that, pavement for bike way must be poured in a slightly inclined way, for, when accumulate water, the flow runs to drainage. In addition, if having drains, these must be set on the right end of the cycle path. For any reason, must be placed in the middle of it, and much less, with bars in vertical direction.
Where to set any pavement kind?
According to a study of the Grupo de Investigación en Ingeniería de Carreteras (HERG) (Highway Engineering Research Group) of Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) (Poly-technical University of Valencia), is recommendable to set a different mixture in any cycling lane, depending the location.
In roads shared by motorized vehicles and bike users or electric scooters, as bike way delineated in road, asphalt is the ideal mixture.
Separated bike ways can be manufactured in asphalt, but concrete can be used too.
In the case cycling lane set in sidewalks, can choose rugged tiles, due vibrations incite cyclists to reduce their speed. Exist special cases where is set a photo-luminescent asphalt for cycling lane to be visible during night. However, the purpose is with more recreational and artistic objectives. Sure, can also work to provide a greater safety during night.
