Swarco Hitex Eco Texband Tape (previously known as Hitex TexBand BBA/HAPAS Approved Overbanding Tape) provides an effective torch on system for the repair of cracks, seams and joints in highways surfaces. TexBand Tape is designed to have a high surface skid resistance throughout its life.

The binder system of TexBand Tape contains a plasticised rosin ester blended with bitumen and selected olymers. The product incorporates aggregates to produce a fine textured finish with an SRV of ≥60 to comply with DMRB (Vol.7 Section 4) HD 31/94 Para.2.10/11.

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• Typical Uses
• Compliances/Approvals
• Preparation of the Road Surface
• Weather Considerations
• General Installation
• Block Paving / Granite Setts Advice
• Technical Data

Typical Uses

• As a seal to prevent moisture ingress after road repairs / trenching
• As an overband, TexBand Tape is suitable for the repair of cracks up to 5mm wide
• TexBand Tape is suitable for use on both asphalt and concrete surfaces

Compliances/Approvals

TexBand Tape is BBA/HAPAS approved for overbanding systems (BBA certificate number 17/H273).

Preparation of the Road Surface

The crack, seam or joint and adjacent area is thoroughly cleaned and dried, removing all loose material, dust, grease and foreign matter. Polished and worn asphalt substrates shall be inspected to determine whether a primer is required or not.

On non-bituminous surfaces, a primer/sealer shall be applied to the entire surface of the area to be repaired. The more porous the surface, the more primer will be required.

Polished or worn concrete should be treated (i.e. by blasting or scabbling) before application of Swarco Eco Texband Tape to ensure the strongest possible bond is formed.

Primer should be applied in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. Particular care should be taken to allow full, natural drying to take place i.e. without assistance. Apply thinly, to avoid pools or puddles of primer, as these can cause blistering and lead to early adhesion failure of any Swarco Eco Texband Tape applied on top.

Suitable primers include Swarco Primer Roll 100 and Swarco Preformed Primer Spray 200.

Weather Considerations

The Swarco Eco Texband Tape system can be applied when the ground temperature is between 1°C and 40°C, but should not be used in periods of continuous or heavy rain. The time period required for the repair to cool sufficiently before trafficking depends on the substrate and air temperatures, but is typically under 5 minutes. Higher ambient temperatures can increase the cure time.

General Installation

The crack, seam or joint recess and immediate surrounding areas must be clean, dry and free from ice, loose aggregate, oil, grease, road salt and other loose material.

Swarco Eco Texband Tape is supplied ready to apply, either on rolls or in strips, typically in widths of 35 - 39mm, incorporating surface applied aggregate.

Swarco Eco Texband Tape should be removed from the packaging and gently placed onto the surface over the top of the crack or joint. It should then be cut to the required size and shape before application starts.

The Swarco Eco Texband Tape is then applied using a suitable torch burner, applying gentle heat to the top surface of the material. The burner should be kept moving across the surface to maintain an even heating.

Heat should be applied until the material can be seen to start melting and flowing onto the underlying surface. Great care should be taken to ensure that all of the material is sufficiently heated to allow all of the tape to be fully bonded to the substrate, whilst avoiding excessive heating of the material, which will lead to surface discolouration.

The bond strength should checked after the material has fully cooled. This is carried out by trying to insert a screwdriver or similar tool between the Swarco Eco Texband Tape and the substrate. The material should not debond. If it does, repeat the above heating step and recheck.

If adhesion continues to fail, remove the section of tape, inspect the substrate for any possible issues and reclean the substrate using the process described earlier in this section.

Prolonged overheating should be avoided, as it could lead to degradation of the binder and pigment components, which will adversely affect product performance. Overheating also risks the surface applied aggregate sinking into the material, reducing the initial skid resistance.

The finished repair is allowed to cool before opening to traffic. This will vary according to the ambient and substrate temperatures, but is typically approximately 5 minutes.

Deeper joint or crack depths may need two applications to completely fill any crack or seam.

Block Paving / Granite Setts Advice

There are increased risks with block paviors, as over time there is always the risk of the individual blocks moving in relation to each other, which can lead to cracking then debonding of the preform.

This can happen with any thermoplastic material, which is why the general recommendation is to use spray applied paints on block paving – if the individual blocks move, the thinner layer thickness of a spray applied coating means it’s less prone to cracking. And there’s less of a coating thickness at the joins between the blocks as well, so any cracking of the paint will be much less visible in comparison to a thicker thermoplastic layer and won’t lead to cracking issues as much.

When using thermoplastics, installers should apply a suitable primer – for thermoplastics including preformed grades, we recommend our Swarco Primer Roll 100 (liquid based) or our Swarco Preformed Primer Spray 200 (aerosol based). Also, as there’s no bitumen to bond / fuse to in such paving products, the thermal bond present in bituminous substrates is not present, potentially reducing the effectivity of any bonding.

Obviously, granite setts are even more of a risk, due to the low porosity and absorbency of the surface not allowing primers to permeate down below the surface, so the bond formed by the primer is sub-optimal, so even more of a risk.

Technical Data

Material Performance

The properties of the installed product are designed to conform to the requirements below: