Foamed concrete utility backfill on a live North Yorkshire carriageway.
650m³ of premium foamed concrete, 50 loads, 2km of cut and fill reinstatement. Replacement water service pipework installed under a Yorkshire Water framework, backfilled with road foam that self compacts around the pipe and lets the gang surface the next day.
January to June 2026. Delivered into live traffic, to programme, without exception.
- 650m³ Premium foamed concrete delivered
- 50 Loads across the scheme
- 2km Cut and fill reinstatement
- Next day Wearing course laid over the fill
- Customer
- Utilities contractor working to a Tier 1 principal (name withheld)
- Framework
- Yorkshire Water
- Where
- Major carriageway and associated trunk roads, North Yorkshire
- Scope
- Replacement water service pipework, trench backfill and reinstatement
- Product
- Procon premium foamed concrete, mixed on site
- Volume
- 650 m³ across 50 loads
- Run
- 2 km of cut and fill reinstatement
- Period
- January to June 2026, multiple deliveries
- Delivery
- Volumetric, batched and discharged at the trench
- Conditions
- Live carriageway, wearing course applied the following day
A water main replacement running through live North Yorkshire roads.
Our customer was working for a large Tier 1 contractor, delivering a utilities project inside the Yorkshire Water framework. The scheme installed replacement water service pipework along a major carriageway in North Yorkshire and the trunk roads feeding it.
It ran from January 2026, and Procon made deliveries through to June. Over that period we supplied more than 650 cubic metres of premium foamed concrete, in fifty loads, batched on site and discharged straight into the trench.
Every pour happened on a road that was still carrying traffic. The excavation went in, the pipe went in, the trench was filled, and the surfacing gang came back the next day to lay the wearing course. Nothing about that sequence works if the fill needs compacting in layers, or if the delivery does not arrive when the traffic management says it can.
What road foam actually is, and why a trench gets filled with it.
Foamed concrete is very fluid and free flowing. It searches out the shape of the excavation on its own, without levelling and without compaction. Poured into a trench it runs the length of the dig and encapsulates pipes, fittings and every awkward obstruction it meets on the way.
Specifiers reach for it to reduce loadings on the ground below, to cut the number of deliveries a site has to take, and to give the works a stable material that can be dug out again later. On a utilities job it does something more specific: it fills a trench that was never a neat rectangle, and it does it without a plate compactor going anywhere near new pipework.
On this scheme it is also the reason the excavation could stay narrow. A fill that self compacts does not need working room around the pipe, so the dig is cut to the minimum width and depth the pipe itself requires.
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Fluid, and it searches
Flows the length of the trench and finds its own level. No levelling pass, no layered backfill, no compaction plant on the fill.
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Encapsulates the service
Runs around pipes, fittings and obstructions and sets against them, so an imperfect trench profile still ends up completely filled.
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Protects new pipework
Self compaction means nothing is vibrated or rammed over the top of a freshly installed water service.
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Fewer loadings, fewer deliveries
Lighter than granular fill, so it reduces loading on the ground below, and one volumetric load replaces several wagons of imported stone.
A day on site, one delivery start to finish.
The challenge was never the concrete. It was the road staying open.
On a live carriageway the job is to install the utilities safely, efficiently and as cost effectively as possible, inside whatever the traffic management allows. Everything else follows from that.
Foamed concrete let the excavation be kept to the minimum width and depth. Its self compacting properties made it the right material to sit against newly installed pipework, and its void filling behaviour meant that trenches which were never perfectly cut still came back completely filled with the pipework encapsulated.
That produced a genuine pour and forget: the fill went in, the gang left, and site returned the next day to apply the wearing course to the carriageway. No return visit to top up settlement, no layer by layer testing, no compaction plant standing waiting.
- 01
Minimum dig, by design
A fill that needs no compaction needs no working room. Excavation stayed at the minimum width and depth the pipe required, which is less spoil out, less material in, and a smaller hole in a live road.
- 02
Self compaction over new pipework
Nothing was rammed or vibrated over the replacement water service. The fill compacted itself around the pipe and the fittings.
- 03
Void filling, first time
Trench profiles are rarely clean. Road foam flowed into the irregularities and encapsulated the pipework, so the fill was complete without anyone chasing pockets.
- 04
Pour and forget
Site left the fill and returned the following day to lay the wearing course. No settlement top ups, no second mobilisation.
- 05
New fleet, live carriageway capable
Our investment in new volumetric fleet is what makes delivery into a running road repeatable rather than lucky. The plant turns up in the state a Tier 1 site expects.
- 06
On time, first time, fifty times
Experience across product, sales and shipping is what gave the contractor confidence we could execute to programme. Fifty loads over six months, to the standard expected, without exception.
From the office to the driver on site, we have been impressed with the level of knowledge, service and product delivered to this major highway and utilities scheme via Procon 24/7. They have simply kept the promises made and delivered without an issue, so important to the safe and effective delivery of our programme and our client.
What it looked like on the carriageway.
Common questions about road foam reinstatement
- What is road foam, and why was it used on this scheme?
- Road foam is foamed concrete used for trench and carriageway reinstatement: a lightweight, free flowing fill that searches out the shape of the excavation, self compacts, and encapsulates pipes and fittings without a plate compactor. On this scheme it was specified because it let the dig stay at minimum width and depth, sat safely against newly installed water service pipework, and filled irregular trench profiles completely in one pour.
- Can foamed concrete be poured around newly installed water pipework?
- Yes, and that is one of the main reasons it is specified. Because the material self compacts, nothing is rammed or vibrated over the top of the new service. The fill flows around the pipe and its fittings and sets against them, which protects the installation rather than loading it.
- How soon can the road be surfaced after a foamed concrete reinstatement?
- On this scheme site returned the next day to lay the wearing course. Actual timing depends on the density specified, the depth of fill and the weather, so send the reinstatement detail and dispatch will confirm before you book the surfacing gang.
- Does foamed concrete need compacting?
- No. It is self compacting and self levelling. There is no plate compactor, no layered backfill and no per layer testing, which is what removes time and plant from a trench reinstatement.
- How much foamed concrete can Procon deliver to a highways scheme?
- This scheme took over 650 cubic metres across fifty loads between January and June 2026. Volume is batched on site by volumetric mixer, so you pay for the cubic metres that go into the ground rather than for part loads.
- Do you supply foamed concrete for local authority and utility frameworks?
- Yes. We are set up for highways and local authority work across Yorkshire and the North West, with the capacity and the accreditation to deliver into live carriageways. Send the framework, the spec and the traffic management window and dispatch will price it.
Got a highways, utilities or local authority scheme to fill?
We are well positioned, with the capacity and the capability, to supply highways and local authority work, especially with foamed concrete for rapid, cost effective void filling and reinstatement. Send the spec, the run and the traffic management window. Dispatch answers inside 30 minutes.
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