THE AWARD
Asphalt Reinforcement Services received a Green Apple Award at the Houses of Parliament for their role in the Cambridgeshire ‘Regen Roads’ Programme. The Green Apple Environment Awards recognise, reward and promote environmental best practices around the world.
“We’re thrilled to have won a Green Apple Award for environmental best practice, as a part of this collaborative project.” – Howard Cooke, Managing Director of Asphalt Reinforcement Services & Chairman of the RSTA.
THE COLLABORATION
Collaboration is becoming increasingly important in the Highway Construction and Maintenance industries. Collaboration enables scrutiny, open examination, and consequent improvements. The Cambridgeshire ‘Regen Roads’ Programme was a collaborative project between Skanska, Atkins, Stabilised Pavements, and Asphalt Reinforcement Services.
Cambridge County Council’s needed to renovate their extensive rural road network. To keep costs down and achieve the best results, various specialists were brought in.
- Skanska were the tier one contractors.
- Atkins fulfilled the role of Design Consultant.
- Stabilised Pavements Ltd are the specialist ‘In Situ Recycling’ Contractor.
- Asphalt Reinforcement Services installed the double Surface Dressing.
A new technique was used called Regen, a variation on In Situ Recycling. The process involves using the existing road as the foundation for the new one. With different companies scrutinising each others’ processes, they were able to create an efficient, cost-effective solution.
THE WORK
Asphalt Reinforcement Services provided a double surface dressing and trialled a geosynthetic fabric. Double surface dressing is quick to apply and economic to install. The double surface dressing prevents water ingress, improves skid resistance, and immediately provides a protective cap for the newly recycled foundation. The geosynthetic fabric was laid, between the surface dressing and the recycled foundation, at high-risk sections of road to reduce the risk of reflective cracking.
“Winning this award is a great testament to the team’s innovative and collaborative way of working and the way everybody involved is always thinking of better solutions.” – Cllr Mathew Shuter, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Chair of the Highways and Infrastructure Committee.
THE RESULTS
As a result of the collaboration 8000m3 of material was recycled and rejuvenated, vehicle movement on and off site with refuse and new material reduced by 880 x 20 Tonnes loads, and 510 Tonnes of CO2 were saved over traditional reconstruction. Also, outputs achieved using this process, together with a reduction in the time spent on site has minimised the impact on the local environment and disruption to its end users.
“Collaborations like this one are the future for our industry. Pooling the minds and resources of experts from across the industry encourages innovation. We were able to deliver an economic solution to the client, a long life pavement, and the most sustainable future for the environment. We always strive to be at the cutting edge of the industry.”
– Howard Cooke, Managing Director of Asphalt Reinforcement Services & Chairman of the RSTA.
