If you want to know what works, ask the people using it! That's why we chatted to Oliver, a Site Supervisor on New Zealand roads, about emulsion vs cement stabilisation.

When cruising on State Highway 35, Road Science's Nik Vishwanath and Josh Appleton met with Oliver, a road maintenance site supervisor and an expert in stabilised patch repairs. With over five years maintenance experience on New Zealand roads, and more overseas, Oliver's crew described him as 'a Swiss army knife and a master of his craft'.

Over his time on New Zealand's road network, Oliver has been stabilising patch repairs with cement and lime. That was until October 2024 when he began doing emulsion stabilised patch repairs using our EnviroBase product.

Naturally, Nik and Josh had a few questions for Oliver about working with EnviroBase. Check out what Oliver shared.

• What is better, emulsion or cement stabilisation?
  "Emulsion stabilising is way better; it holds the metal better and I don’t have to come back to do repairs."
• What do you like most about working with emulsion?
  "The quality is better. It's strong and easy to get good compaction. We achieve around 60 – 65 on cleggs compared to 40 – 45 when using cement stabilisation. You also get a very waterproof finish."
• Would you go back to cement stabilising?
  "I would rather stay here using emulsion. If you were to ask me what we should be doing for stabilisation patch repairs, I would suggest using emulsion."

We couldn't agree more, Oliver! If you're interested in learning more about Road Science's emulsion offerings, reach out to Nik Vishwanath or Darcy Rogers or use our website's Product Finder