SWINDON'S roads could soon be quieter, thanks to a new highway repair process that is being adopted by the council.

Rhinopatch and Rhinophalt processes cut down the use of raw materials, the cost of transporting new and used materials and the noise from disc-cutters and pneumatic drills.

Roads consist of 94 per cent stone and six per cent bitumen binder and it is the bitumen, not the stone, which deteriorates as a result of oxidisation, wear and petrol and diesel spills.

Therefore, instead of digging out and replacing the stone, the new processes simply rejuvenate the bitumen.

The process starts by heating the road surface for ten minutes at 180 degrees and ends by spraying the surface with material which replaces the bitumen's lost hydrocarbons.

Highway maintenance staff have already used the new processes on 400 square metres of Marlborough Road in Old Town.

And it will next be used in Swindon from 11.30pm on Saturday until 6.30am on Monday in Park Lane and Rodbourne Road. These roads will be closed and a diversion put in place.

Asphalt Systems International, of Milton Keynes, is carrying out the work.

Coun Keith Small, (Lab, Western) lead member for transport and the environment, said: "This is the first time we've used this in Swindon and, if the trial's successful, we'll be able to make a big contribution to saving the environment."

Assistant highways engineer, Derek Edgington, said the Marlborough Road work had proved a great success

He said: "We only used 1.5 tonnes of new material instead of the 36 tonnes we'd normally have used. That's 36 tonnes of irreplaceable material that hasn't had to be quarried and transported and which remains for future generations.

"And apart from when we compact the road surface, the process is near silent.''