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The 5th annual Middle East Bitumen Conference, hosted by ENOC Industrial Products Marketing (EIPM), a specialised business division of Emirates National Oil Company, urged authorities to monitor the quality of bitumen used across the industry to avoid losses to the government due to import of poor quality products.
The conference focused on promoting awareness on the importance of adopting the right standards of bitumen in the UAE, to further strengthen the quality of the UAE’s road network.
Zaid Al Qufaidi, Managing Director - Marketing, ENOC, said: “The UAE is witnessing ambitious road infrastructure projects, which is driving the demand for bitumen. With Dubai preparing to host the Expo 2020, significant investment is being made in developing the road and transport infrastructure too. With such tremendous growth potential for the bitumen industry, the Middle East Bitumen Conference is underlining the importance of using bitumen of right standards to enhance the quality of the road infrastructure and also prevent any potential losses due to the use of poor quality bitumen.”
He added: “ENOC has been at the forefront in promoting best practices in the bitumen industry, and today we have bitumen facilities of international standards to help support and serve our customers in the UAE’s road development programmes. The conference, which brought together, experts from around the world highlighted how different stakeholders can work together and contribute to building a truly world-class road infrastructure.”
Among other topics addressed by the conference was the need to adopt the super-pave methodology to ensure that the correct grade of bitumen is deployed in road construction.
Nader Al Fardan, Senior Manager - ENOC Industrial Products Marketing, said: “Bitumen is a key strategic product at the heart of a country’s mobilisation development. It is essential that quality control and quality assurance protocols are developed, implemented and monitored. As solution providers it is incumbent upon us to bring about awareness of best practices for the market to meet and exceed the UAE’s prevailing standards and requirements. In doing so, we at ENOC work together with the concerned authorities and the bitumen industry to prevent and avoid costly pavement problems. Through innovation we are able to develop stronger materials that allow better paving solutions and add value and long term cost savings for the country.”
Abdi Kamalati, Manager – ENOC Commercial Fuels Industry, added: “Many countries around the world have adopted the super-pave methodology to identify the most suitable bitumen grade for use in roads and runway projects. The super-pave methodology takes into consideration the added dimension of ambient temperature, and vehicle axel loads over a set period of time. Road and runway construction and repairs are capital intensive and the super-pave methodology will help us develop Polymer Modified Bitumen (PMBs) which can be used by our customers to build truly world-class asphalt pavements that will last longer far into the future.”
Rob Kuenen, General Manager of Ooms PMB Gulf Asphalt Trading LLC, said: “By evaluating the temperature footprint of the region using super-pave, it has been identified that using PMB is best suited. This helps extend the life and maintenance cycle needed for roads and runways and dramatically lowers maintenance and paving costs for authorities.”
ENOC has been catering to the bitumen needs of the country for over 30 years. ENOC Bitumen products are tailored to meet the needs of asphalt manufacturers, road builders, construction, government, communities, asset owners, designers and architects – giving usable and effective solutions for all markets.
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