roadway slab

Abstract

Road surface slab (1), characterized in that the road surface slab (1) has a lower support layer (2) made of a polyolefin material, and an upper, slip-resistant driving layer (3) made of an elastomer material.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a roadway slab.

[0002] Road slabs are well-known in practice. They serve to create a temporary roadway and protect the ground surface when it is being driven on, for example, by heavy construction vehicles. Furthermore, such a temporary roadway serves to make an unpaved surface easily passable, for example, by preventing the ground from softening due to weather conditions, developing deep ruts, and providing insufficient traction for the driven wheels of the vehicles.

[0003] In practice, steel road slabs are known to be installed or removed only with mechanical assistance due to their heavy weight, requiring correspondingly high handling effort. When such road slabs are driven over by heavy construction machinery, there is a risk of permanent deformation of the road slabs. To counteract this risk, the steel road slabs have a sufficiently thick material, which is caused by the heavy weight of the road slabs. If the surface of the steel road slabs is damp due to precipitation, leaks, or similar, these road slabs offer significantly limited grip, i.e., limited grip for transferring the driving forces from the driven wheels to the road slab.

[0004] Polyethylene road slabs are also known, which, due to their light weight, can be easily laid or removed by hand. The material exhibits a toughness that allows for deformation under the load of heavy construction machinery, which is largely compensated for by the material's resilience. Finally, rubber road slabs are known, which offer good grip and are also highly resilient without undergoing excessive permanent deformation. However, they are significantly heavier than polyethylene road slabs and are more expensive.

[0005] The invention is based on the object of providing a road surface that is as economical as possible and ensures low weight and good grip even on wet surfaces.

[0006] Features of the invention are defined in claim 1. Embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0007] The invention thus proposes that the road slab comprise a lower base layer made of a polyolefin material and an upper, slip-resistant road layer made of an elastomer material. By using a polyolefin material for the lower base layer, the price and weight of the road slab can be kept as low as possible. By using an elastomer material, the road slab exhibits advantageously good grip. Surprisingly, initial, non-public tests have shown that, despite the two-layer structure of the road slab, the effort required for its production can be kept to a minimum.The costs for the production of the road surface can thus be kept practically low, and in addition, the economic advantages of the road surface according to the invention come into effect during its use, namely when the handling of the road surface can be carried out manually without any problems and the provision of mechanized aids can be dispensed with.

[0008] The road surface can be designed in such a way that the layer thickness of the base layer is greater than the layer thickness of the driving surface. This makes the price and weight advantages associated with the combination of the polyolefin material particularly effective. The layer thickness of the more expensive and heavier elastomer material can be kept as low as possible and is determined, for example, by ensuring that the driving surface is sufficiently mechanically resistant to withstand the forces acting on it when heavy, high-power vehicles drive over it.

[0009] The road surface can be designed in such a way that the driving layer is profiled. Since the elastomer material provides good grip, the road surface can, in principle, also be designed without any profile on its drivable surface. However, the profile improves grip, even if the tire treads or the surface of the road surface are dirty.

[0010] The road surface can be designed in such a way that the road surface has upwardly projecting protrusions. Designing the aforementioned profiling using upwardly projecting protrusions is advantageous compared to creating a profile using grooves, troughs, or similar depressions in that the depressions cannot become clogged with dirt or ice, which could impair the desired grip of the road surface.

[0011] The road slab can be designed so that the base layer is made of recycled material. This advantageously keeps the cost of the base layer material low without negatively affecting the mechanical properties of the base layer.

[0012] The road slab can be designed with a base layer made of polyethylene. Its high resistance to chemical and mechanical stress, low density, easy and inexpensive availability, and ease of processing make polyethylene particularly suitable for use as a base layer for the road slab.

[0013] The road slab can be designed so that the base layer is made of ultra-high-molecular-weight, low-density polyethylene. These materials have proven extremely effective in practice and, for example, exhibit outstanding abrasion resistance. Since they are often machined, the resulting chips are produced as particles, which are inexpensively available for producing the base layer of the road slab from this recycled material.

[0014] The road surface can be designed with an NBR rubber layer. This elastomer material exhibits good resistance to fuels and oils and is therefore chemically resistant.

[0015] The road surface can be designed in such a way that the driving layer has a hardness in the range of 60 to 75 Shore A. In particular, the hardness can be in the range of 67 to 72 Shore A. This degree of hardness of the elastomer material ensures, on the one hand, the desired dimensional stability and thus, for example, the retention of the profile of the driving layer even when driving over it with heavy loads. On the other hand, it offers deformability that avoids damage under applied mechanical loads, which can otherwise occur with harder and correspondingly more brittle materials in the form of fractures, chipping or the like.

[0016] Further features, details, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the wording of the claims and from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. They show: Fig. 1 a perspective view from above of a road surface, and Fig, 2 a corner area of the roadway slab of Fig. 1 in opposite Fig. 1 larger scale.

[0017] Fig. Figure 1 shows a road slab 1 with a two-layer structure, comprising a lower base layer 2 and an upper driving layer 3. The base layer 2 consists of a polyolefin material, namely a recycled material of ultra-high-molecular-weight low-density polyethylene. The driving layer 3 is designed to be slip-resistant by being made of an elastomer material, namely NBR rubber with a Shore A hardness of approximately 70, making it resistant to oils and fuels. The driving layer 3 forms a drivable surface 4 of the road slab 1.

[0018] Due to the material properties of the NBR rubber, surface 4 already offers good grip to vehicles driving on the roadway slab 1. To further improve the anti-slip effect of the surface, it features a profile in the form of a multitude of upwardly projecting projections 5.

[0019] The layer thickness of the road layer 3 is less than that of the base layer 2. Since the specific gravity of the recycled ultra-high molecular weight low-density polyethylene is less than the specific gravity of NBR rubber, the road slab 1 can be easily carried manually, without the aid of mechanical aids such as a crane or the like. To facilitate handling of the road slab 1, it has two grip openings 6 that facilitate grasping and holding the road slab 1. Typical dimensions of the road slab 1 are between 1.0 and 1.5 m wide and 2.0 to 2.5 m long.

[0020] The invention is not limited to one of the above-described embodiments, but can be modified in a variety of ways. All features and advantages apparent from the claims, the description, and the drawings, including structural details, spatial arrangements, and method steps, may be essential to the invention both individually and in a wide variety of combinations. List of reference symbols 1 road slab 2 base layer 3 shifts 4 Surface 5 lead 6 Handle opening

Claims

[1] Road plate (1), characterized by , that the road surface (1) has a lower base layer (2) made of a polyolefin material, and an upper, anti-slip driving layer (3) made of an elastomer material. [2] Road surface according to claim 1, characterized by that the layer thickness of the base layer (2) is greater than the layer thickness of the driving layer (3). [3] Road surface according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by that the road layer (3) is profiled. [4] Road surface according to claim 3, characterized by that the driving layer (3) has upwardly projecting projections (5). [5] Road plate according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the base layer (2) consists of a recycled material. [6] Road plate according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the base layer (2) consists of a polyethylene material. [7] Road surface according to claim 6, characterized by that the base layer (2) consists of an ultra-high molecular weight low-pressure PE. [8] Road plate according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the driving layer (3) consists of an NBR rubber. [9] Road plate according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the driving layer (3) has a hardness in the range of 60 to 75 Shore A, in particular in the range of 67 to 72 Shore A.

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