Road Science
Road Science is a New Zealand specialist division of Downer Group (ASX: DOW) that designs and supplies proprietary bitumen emulsions, polymer-modified binders, and pavement preservation products to government road agencies and contractors, supported by a national network of 8 plants and 3 laboratories.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersMount Maunganui, New Zealand
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Road Science does
Road Science is a New Zealand-based specialist in advanced bitumen and pavement technologies, operating as a division of the publicly listed Downer Group (ASX: DOW). The company designs, develops, and supplies proprietary bitumen emulsions, polymer-modified binders, sealing products, and pavement preservation solutions to road owners, contractors, and councils across New Zealand. Its product portfolio spans four categories — asphalt binders (FlexiPlus Bind, FlexiPlus Bind EcoBlend, FlexiMax Bind, ResistaMax Bind, EME2), sealing products (Weather Barrier, EnviroShield, AntiFlush Seal, EnviroSeal), pavement preservation products (EnviroBase, UltraMender), and ancillary services (Zeus weather risk tool, laboratory testing, road condition surveying, asphalt production) — with notable innovations including a recycled-tyre binder (EcoBlend), a nano-material curing accelerant (Weather Barrier), and a data-driven weather-risk assessment service (Zeus).
The company operates an extensive national infrastructure footprint consisting of four bitumen plants (Bluff, Mount Maunganui, Lyttelton, New Plymouth), four asphalt plants (Whangārei, Hamilton, Dunedin, Invercargill), and three laboratories (Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington). Its business model is B2B sales-led, with no public pricing or rate cards; customers request quotes through the website and receive direct technical support from a team of product managers and field technicians. Core customer segments are New Zealand local and central government road agencies (e.g., Auckland Transport, various District Councils and Network Outcome Contracts) and major contractors (Downer, Ventia).
Road Science differentiates itself through science-driven R&D with measurable customer outcomes — 95% reduction in rework rates with EnviroBase, approximately one-third the cost of traditional dig-out repairs with UltraMender, and 0.6% versus 1.2% remedial rates with emulsion seals. Recent strategic emphasis has been on sustainable products incorporating recycled materials, extended sealing windows through chemistry innovation, and a pipeline of digital/measurement services. The company is private (as a Downer Group division), New Zealand-domiciled, and operates solely in the domestic market.
Road Science firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Road Science
- Legal name
- Road Science (a division of Downer Group)
- Website
- https://roadscience.co.nz
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Road Science is a New Zealand specialist division of Downer Group (ASX: DOW) that designs and supplies proprietary bitumen emulsions, polymer-modified binders, and pavement preservation products to government road agencies and contractors, supported by a national network of 8 plants and 3 laboratories.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Road Science industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Road Construction Materials & Pavement Solutions
- NAICS
- Asphalt Paving Mixture and Block Manufacturing (324121), Asphalt Paving, Roofing, and Saturated Materials Manufacturing (32412), Asphalt Shingle and Coating Materials Manufacturing (324122)
- SIC
- Asphalt Paving & Roofing Materials (2950)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Polymer-Modified Asphalt (PMB) & Modified Binders (SBS/Crumb Rubber/Plastomers) (EUALAKAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Asphalt Mixing & Paving Materials (Hot/Warm/Cold Mix, RAP/RAS Blends) (EUALAKAG), Asphalt Additives & Performance Enhancers (Anti-strip, Warm-mix, Fibers, Rejuvenators) (EUALAKAH), Bitumen Logistics & Terminals (Bulk Storage, Heating, Packaging, ISO Tanks) (EUALAKAI), Road Maintenance & Asset Preservation (Resurfacing, Patching, Crack Sealing) (IMAFAEAF)
Keywords
Where Road Science is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mount Maunganui
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices12 records
Markets served
Road Science business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Bitumen and Asphalt Products: Sale of advanced bitumen products including standard bitumen, polymer-modified binders, and specialty binders for road construction and maintenance.
- Pavement Preservation Products: Sale of preservation products including EnviroBase, UltraMender, and sealing solutions for extending road life and reducing maintenance costs.
- Laboratory and Testing Services: Technical services including laboratory testing, road condition surveying, and engineering consultation supporting product application.
- Asphalt Production: Production and supply of asphalt products through dedicated plants located across New Zealand.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | B2B product and service pricing through quotation |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Road Science product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Road Science designs, manufactures and supplies advanced bitumen, asphalt binders, sealing products, and pavement preservation solutions for road construction and maintenance in New Zealand. The company operates four bitumen plants, four asphalt plants and three laboratories nationwide, and offers complementary technical services including laboratory testing, road condition surveying, falling weight deflectometer testing, and the Zeus weather risk assessment tool. Its proprietary products include EnviroBase, Weather Barrier, UltraMender, and FlexiPlus Bind EcoBlend (incorporating recycled end-of-life tyres).
Product overview
Road Science is New Zealand's leading designer and supplier of advanced bitumen and bitumen-based products for road and pavement solutions. The portfolio consists of four core product categories: Asphalt binders (including FlexiPlus Bind, FlexiMax Bind, ResistaMax Bind, EnviroBind, EpoxyBind, EME2, and Standard Bitumen products), Sealing products (including Weather Barrier, AntiFlush Seal, EnviroShield, EnviroSeal, EnviroPlus Seal, EnviroTack, FlexiSeal, DustSeal, and Cutback Bitumen), Pavement preservation products (including EnviroBase, UltraMender, and EnviroPatch), and Services (including Zeus weather risk assessment tool, Laboratory Services, Asphalt Production, and Road Condition Surveying). Road Science also offers technology-enabled services such as smart camera data capture (Hawkeye), Falling Weight Deflectometer testing, and GripTester MK2 skid resistance testing. The company operates as a division of the Downer Group and provides end-to-end pavement solutions combining research, field expertise, and innovation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- FlexiPlus Bind | EcoBlend: Advanced polymer-modified binder incorporating recycled rubber from end-of-life tyres for sustainable road construction.
- Weather Barrier
- EnviroBase
- UltraMender
- Zeus
Products and services
- EnviroBase High-performance bitumen stabilising binder that extends the life of granular pavements through emulsion stabilisation, providing strong reliable stabilisation across variable aggregates and superior waterproofing protection for road owners and contractors.
- UltraMender High-performance polymeric binder for road repair applied at ambient temperature with rapid curing to form a tough, durable, plastic-like material, used as surface sealant and patch repairs when mixed with local aggregates by councils and contractors.
- Weather Barrier Eco-friendly nano-material chip seal curing accelerant that speeds up the curing of Road Science chip seal bitumen emulsions, enabling sealing in traditionally unsealable windows including night sealing, cooler temperatures, high humidity, and shoulder seasons for road owners and contractors.
- FlexiPlus Bind | EcoBlend Advanced polymer-modified binder variation that replaces a portion of virgin polymer with recycled devulcanised rubber from end-of-life tyres, designed to reduce landfill waste, cut reliance on virgin materials, and deliver durable roads without compromising performance for road owners and contractors.
- FlexiPlus Bind High-performance polymer-modified binder formulated to enhance both fatigue resistance and rutting performance in asphalt mixes for long-life pavement solutions.
- AntiFlush Seal Sealing product designed to address water-induced stripping issues in chip seals, helping manage moisture intrusion and improve early-life resilience during curing for road owners and contractors.
- EnviroShield Resurfacing product providing a smoother, quieter, long-lasting alternative to chip seal, used for runway and highway applications by airports and road owners.
- FlexiMax Bind Polymer-modified binder for asphalt applications, also available with EcoBlend recycled rubber approach for sustainable road construction.
- ResistaMax Bind Asphalt binder product engineered for enhanced pavement performance and durability under heavy traffic loads.
- EnviroBind Environmentally-focused binder product from the Enviro range designed to reduce environmental impact of asphalt production.
- EpoxyBind Asphalt binder with epoxy modification for enhanced performance and durability in demanding pavement applications.
- EME2 High-modulus asphalt binder product designed for heavy-duty pavement applications requiring superior rutting resistance.
- Standard Bitumen | Asphalt Standard bitumen binder for asphalt production at Road Science asphalt plants across New Zealand.
- Standard Bitumen | Sealing Standard bitumen binder for road sealing applications supplied from Road Science bitumen plants.
- Cutback Bitumen Bitumen product with solvent added for cold-weather sealing applications; traditional approach with higher stripping risk in cooler conditions compared to emulsions.
- Asphalt Production End-to-end asphalt production service operated from four asphalt plants across Whangārei, Hamilton, Dunedin, and Invercargill, supplying contractors and road owners with finished asphalt products.
- Laboratory Services Research and development, laboratory testing, and engineering services delivered from laboratories in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington to support pavement solution design and quality assurance for customers.
- Road Condition Surveying Surveying services to assess road conditions and maintenance needs, supporting network-level decision-making for road owners and contractors.
- Zeus Weather Risk Assessment Tool Intelligent weather risk assessment service providing location-specific guidance on when and where emulsion products will cure effectively, combining live and forecast weather data with curing science and product-specific algorithms for road owners and contractors.
- Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) Testing Testing service using a Falling Weight Deflectometer for pavement structural assessment, including runway testing applications for airports and road owners.
- GripTester MK2 Skid Resistance Testing Surface testing service for airports and SCRIM sites measuring skid resistance using GripTester MK2 equipment.
- Hawkeye Smart Camera Data Capture Smart camera technology service providing intelligent, accurate data capture including traffic volumes, speeds, lane utilisation, and traffic type detection for roading projects.
Quantifiable outcome
- 95% reduction in rework rates with EnviroBase emulsion stabilisation vs cement-stabilised patches
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Road Science
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Road Science technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
Road Science partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- Downer GroupflagshipRoad Science is a division of the Downer Group, one of New Zealand's leading providers of infrastructure services. Downer conducts paving operations and has partnered on product trials including the FlexiPlus Bind EcoBlend trial on Auckland's Blockhouse Bay Road, providing positive feedback on product performance under nightwork conditions.
- Auckland TransportcorePartnered with Road Science on the FlexiPlus Bind EcoBlend trial on Blockhouse Bay Road - Auckland's first trial of a recycled tyre asphalt binder. Auckland Transport is monitoring the road's performance to assess durability and potential for wider use across their network.
- VentiacoreVentia is the project contract owner for the West Road Maintenance contract on the AT Network. They delivered the FlexiPlus Bind EcoBlend trial installation under live traffic conditions, demonstrating that innovative materials can be incorporated into day-to-day operations safely and efficiently.
- RevyrecoreSupplier of Revpol devulcanised rubber material used in the FlexiPlus Bind EcoBlend formulation. Revyre's devulcanised rubber replaces virgin polymer materials, enabling the sustainable binder product.
- KiwiRailminorCollaborated on the Trentham T2UH data capture project alongside Downer, Road Science, Aurecon, Sitech NZ, and RB Civil. Project won a WorkSafe New Zealand award for innovative data capture work.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Road Science competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Fulton Hogan: Fulton Hogan is a major Australasian road infrastructure contractor and bitumen/asphalt producer, with significant New Zealand operations including asphalt plants and emulsion production. It is the most directly comparable competitor to Road Science, offering overlapping bitumen, asphalt, and pavement preservation products and services to NZ councils and contractors.
- Higgins Group: Higgins is a New Zealand-based road construction and maintenance contractor with asphalt production and bitumen-based product capabilities, serving NZTA and local councils. As an integrated contractor-producer, Higgins competes head-to-head with Road Science for bitumen supply, chip sealing, and pavement preservation contracts across NZ.
- Nynas AB: Nynas is a Sweden-based specialist bitumen manufacturer producing paving-grade bitumen, polymer-modified binders, and emulsions globally. As a focused bitumen technology specialist, Nynas competes directly with Road Science in PMB and emulsion innovation, though it operates at greater scale and with a more international customer base.
- Allied Asphalt: Allied Asphalt is a New Zealand-based asphalt production and paving company supplying asphalt mixes and road surfacing services to the NZ market. It competes with Road Science's asphalt plants for contractor and council contracts, though with a narrower focus on mix supply versus Road Science's broader binder and preservation portfolio.
Broad incumbents
- Colas: Colas is a global road construction and bitumen materials group with subsidiaries (including Colas New Zealand) producing polymer-modified binders, emulsions, and asphalt. Its global R&D and bitumen sourcing capacity make it a broad incumbent competing in the same NZ road materials market, though with a much wider geographic and product footprint than Road Science.
- Shell Bitumen: Shell is one of the world's largest bitumen producers, supplying paving-grade and polymer-modified binders globally. It competes with Road Science as an imported bitumen supplier into NZ and as a global PMB technology benchmark, though its product portfolio is far broader than Road Science's specialised pavement focus.
- TotalEnergies Bitumen: TotalEnergies is a major global refiner with a dedicated bitumen division supplying standard and polymer-modified binders, emulsions, and warm-mix asphalt technologies. It overlaps with Road Science's product categories and competes in tenders for NZ infrastructure projects, but at a much larger multinational scale.
- Holcim (formerly LafargeHolcim): Holcim is one of the world's largest construction materials companies, with a road and paving materials division offering asphalt, bitumen emulsions, and pavement solutions. While primarily a cement/concrete group, its road materials portfolio overlaps with Road Science's preservation and asphalt offerings at a global incumbent scale.
- JULONG Bitumen / CRH plc (Roadbuilding): CRH is a global building materials group with significant asphalt and road construction operations through subsidiaries in Australia, NZ, and globally. As a broad incumbent with bitumen production and paving services across multiple geographies, CRH represents a larger-scale comparable with overlapping technology and customer bases.
Regional players
- Boral Limited: Boral is an Australian construction materials and building products group with asphalt, bitumen, and pavement services primarily in Australia. While geographically focused on Australia rather than NZ, Boral is a comparable vertically integrated bitumen/asphalt producer in the broader Australasian market and represents a potential expansion benchmark for Road Science.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Road Science social profiles
Digital presenceRoad Science financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Road Science leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Road Science funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Road Science M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Road Science
What does Road Science do?
Road Science designs, manufactures and supplies advanced bitumen, asphalt binders, sealing products, and pavement preservation solutions for road construction and maintenance in New Zealand. The company operates four bitumen plants, four asphalt plants and three laboratories nationwide, and offers complementary technical services including laboratory testing, road condition surveying, falling weight deflectometer testing, and the Zeus weather risk assessment tool. Its proprietary products include EnviroBase, Weather Barrier, UltraMender, and FlexiPlus Bind EcoBlend (incorporating recycled end-of-life tyres).
Is Road Science a public or private company?
Road Science is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Road Science founded?
Road Science was founded in -1. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Road Science based?
Road Science is headquartered in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Road Science make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Bitumen and Asphalt Products are the primary driver. The others are pavement Preservation Products, laboratory and Testing Services and asphalt Production.
Who are Road Science's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Fulton Hogan, Higgins Group, Nynas AB and Allied Asphalt. Broad incumbents are Colas, Shell Bitumen, TotalEnergies Bitumen, Holcim (formerly LafargeHolcim) and JULONG Bitumen / CRH plc (Roadbuilding). Boral Limited is listed as a regional player.
Does Road Science have an API?
No public API is recorded for Road Science.
What industry is Road Science in?
Road Science's product category is Road Construction Materials & Pavement Solutions. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUALAKAD, Polymer-Modified Asphalt (PMB) & Modified Binders (SBS/Crumb Rubber/Plastomers), with a secondary code of EUALAKAG, Asphalt Mixing & Paving Materials (Hot/Warm/Cold Mix, RAP/RAS Blends). Its NAICS code is 324121 and its SIC code is 2950.