Construct - Issue 50

Interview

ON R&D

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What brought you into construction and then on to FM Conway? My path into construction was an unusual one! A friend of mine overslept for a job interview, so his mother asked me to go in his place. I got the role and started working as a technician taking chloride samples from a viaduct. From that moment onwards, I was hooked. I took the foundational skills I’d learned in materials testing and analytics and, when that contract ended, my career took off from there. I worked on projects across the country on both the client and contractor sides, from manufacturing to laying and testing asphalt. before moving into the technical team where I am today, looking at how we can develop new products that push the industry forward. We’ve grown from a two-person team in 2010 to 24 in 2025, with two UKAS-certified labs. A big part of my role is making sure we are always looking ahead and designing products that address new challenges in our sector. I then joined FM Conway in 2010 working on materials production

How can we make innovation happen faster across the industry? There is some fantastic research going on in highways, but we need specifications to keep pace as new products come forward. Asphalt recycling is a good example – this is so important to reduce our reliance on virgin resources. We know that it works but it is still taking time to make high recycled content mixes the norm. That’s because our clients – who are already stretched for budget and resources – are having to negotiate specification departures for each project individually. If we could work together to simplify that process, for example by establishing departures that run for a set length of time, we could really speed up progress. Just as importantly, I’d like to see long-term funding for network operators and local councils. That will help us to plan for the future and tackle challenges like climate resilience and increased traffic head on, as well as preparing our roads for emerging technologies like platoon-driving. and development so that the new techniques and materials we create can live up to the real-world challenges our roads face. As the drive toward a net-zero future accelerates, our industry is facing a significant transformation that I’m proud to say we’re at the forefront of. Current research is focused on two key areas: further reducing production temperatures beyond those achieved with today’s warm mix technologies, and developing bio-based additives that can partially or fully replace traditional bitumen. Innovations in these areas hold great promise for lowering emissions and enhancing the sustainability of what we do.

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Research & Development work? Q The story of Research & Development (R&D) in the business is really one of how we have invested in our ability to self-deliver highways maintenance and construction. Michael Conway’s A

What have been the big milestones in your

ambition was always to provide an end-to-end service for our clients without relying on external suppliers - to give us more control and ownership of the product, application and most of all, innovation. The launch of our first asphalt plant at Erith was a big turning point in that journey. We were no longer only contractors – we now became producers too.

5 MINUTES That shift has meant we’re able to use our experience on the network to drive the focus of our research

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