How AI is helping to develop 'self-healing' roads

A sample of the self-healing asphalt A sample of the self-healing asphalt Image: Courtesy of King’s College London©

British and Chilean researchers have succeeded in developing a self-healing type of asphalt made from organic waste materials. Artificial intelligence helped optimize this solution.

Imagine if even the smallest crack in the road could heal itself, without any outside intervention, thanks to a completely new type of asphalt. This is precisely what scientists from Swansea University in Wales and King's College London have developed, with the help of researchers in Chile. Could this mean the end of potholes, a major source of accidents and damage to vehicles?

The innovation is based on the integration of tiny capsules filled with recycled oils into the bitumen. When a crack appears, these spores release their contents, enabling the surface to regenerate instantly. According to initial laboratory tests, these organic waste products (biomass) are capable of plugging even the smallest micro-crack in less than an hour.

Researchers were directly inspired by the natural healing mechanisms of plants and animals when creating this self-repairing asphalt. Artificial intelligence also played an important role, rapidly simulating the material's behavior on a molecular scale, in order to hone the manufacture of this asphalt and optimize its reconstruction, for all types of cracks.

Still in development, this research could one day revolutionize the maintenance of road infrastructure worldwide. In the future, brown algae or even recycled cooking oil could also be used to make this type of material.