Traffic safety improved with Whisper-Grip®

Whisper-Grip® was used for the first time in Malaysia in 2007. Since then, it has acquired a good reputation as a very effective system for improving the safety record of accident blackspots on motorway slip roads. Since its first application, 26 motorway intersections equating to around 120,000 m² of surface area have been treated with the surface dressing from MC. As a result, accident numbers have been reduced by 50%. Whisper-Grip® in Malaysia – a real success story.
Projek Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad (PLUS), the biggest expressway concessionaire (toll motorway operator) in Malaysia and one of the largest in South-East Asia, maintains a total length of around 1,000 km of motorway in Malaysia and has used Whisper-Grip® since 2007. Its objective is to improve the skid resistance value (SRT) of existing hot-rolled asphalt (HRA) pavements in accident danger areas and, in particular, to reduce the risk of aquaplaning during the monsoon season. Particular blackspots include motorway slip roads (the expressway ramps) with tight bends – and especially those with a sloping gradient profile – as the danger of accidents here increases considerably in wet conditions.

More grip, less noise

Whisper-Grip® has proven to be the ideal solution for such applications. The special surface treatment from MC consists of a two-component reaction resin interspersed with fine, highly polish-resistant, cubic aggregate. It can be applied to both asphalt surfaces and concrete pavements, in both cases ensuring an optimised mix of micro and macro roughness with extremely high grip values.  This not only decreases the danger of aquaplaning, it also significantly mitigates tyre noise. Whisper-Grip® is thus also suitable for noise reduction projects.
More safety – fewer traffic accidents

The first project was implemented in 2007 at the USJ intersection that forms part of the North South Expressway Central Link (E6). This passes through the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and as such is Malaysia’s most important motorway. A total surface area of around 3,200 m² was provided with Whisper-Grip®, almost doubling the surface grip index from 39.5 to 70 SRT.These and similarly impressive values have encour-aged the expressway concessionaire to so far upgrade the ramps of 26 intersections on the E6, E1 and E2 expressways with Whisper-Grip®, representing a total of around 120,000 m2 of pavement.
At many such ramps, grip values of over 80 SRT have actually been measured! Whisper-Grip® is also virtually maintenance-free and remains effectively adhered to the surface for the entire service life of the asphalt substrate, a figure that ranges from five to seven years. All of this has positive consequences for motorway users. Investigations show that the number of accidents since the introduction of Whisper-Grip® has been reduced by half. Newsworthy enough for The Star, the biggest English-language newspaper in Malaysia, to publish an article entitled “Tech Halves Crash Rates”, with a video covering the story also available on Star TV.