One COLAS Bitumen (OCB): implications for Australian pavement design and QA
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on Roads & Infrastructure (AU)
30 Second Briefing
SAMI Bitumen Technologies’ parent company COLAS is rolling out its ‘One COLAS Bitumen’ (OCB) framework to standardise bitumen binders, emulsions and polymer-modified products across its global network of terminals and laboratories. Shared specifications, mix designs and performance testing protocols allow Australian road projects to draw directly on European and North American experience with low-temperature binders, warm-mix additives and high-recycled asphalt content. For pavement designers and asset owners, this means more consistent binder behaviour across climates, faster validation of new formulations and clearer pathways to lower‑carbon surfacings.
Technical Brief
- ‘One COLAS Bitumen’ is framed as a single, group-wide principle governing all binder activities.
- COLAS positions its global scale as a responsibility, linking product choices to long‑term environmental impact.
Our Take
Among the few Materials stories in our coverage, SAMI Bitumen Technologies stands out as one of the more specialised Australian players, suggesting its practices could become a reference point for local road agencies looking to align with emerging sustainability standards.
With this piece tagged under Product, Standard/Guideline and Sustainability, it sits alongside a cluster of 89 similar items where suppliers are increasingly expected to demonstrate compliance with formal road construction guidelines rather than just promote performance claims.
COLAS’ presence in an Australia-focused Materials article signals that global road groups are actively shaping local specifications and sustainability benchmarks, which can influence how state and territory transport departments update their bitumen and asphalt standards over the next revision cycles.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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