- The new M6 toll road has been built on two and a half
million copies of old Mills and Boon novels to prevent it from cracking.
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- Unsold copies of the books were shredded into a paste
and added to a mixture of asphalt and Tarmac. It helps to bind the asphalt
and the Tarmac, preventing the surface from splitting apart after heavy
use.
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- The construction company responsible for laying the road,
Tarmac Central, used 92,000 books per mile for a 16-mile stretch of the
road and said it should ensure the motorway remained free of roadworks.
Richard Beal, project manager, said that Mills and Boon novels were used
because millions are returned to the factory each year unsold.
-
- The reject copies are then passed on to other companies
where they are recycled and used for other purposes.
-
- He said: "There is the old saying that the road
to true love doesn't run smoothly but thanks to thousands of Mills and
Boon romance novels we hope that the M6 toll will.
-
- "Ironically the books are renowned for their slushiness
but when pulped they help to make the road solid and to hold the Tarmac
and asphalt in place.
-
- "There is no specific reason why Mills and Boon
were used. They just produce more volume of books than most other publishers.
-
- "As a result millions of copies that are unsold
and left on the shelf are returned and then passed on to other companies
to be used in recycling."
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- A spokesman for Midland Expressway, which runs the Birmingham
road, said: "It's certainly unusual, but if it means that the road
will last longer and we will not have to repair it all the time, it has
to be good news for the paying customers using it to escape congestion
on the M6."
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- Mills and Boon novels sell 175 million copies worldwide
every year, with 13 million sold annually in Britain.
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/18/
nroad18.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/12/18/ixhome.html
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