SUSTAINABILITY
uk
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of colour and a high density of pollen and
nectar-rich plants for pollinators, these do little
to support invertebrates that feed on native
meadow flowers and can be expensive to buy
and labour intensive to maintain. Establishing
mixes of perennial native flowers will require
less management and bring greater benefits to
a wider range of wildlife.
In 2020, National Highways announced
a ‘step change’ in the way it manages land
around its network with contractors instructed
to follow a new Low Nutrient Grasslands
policy to avoid soils that favour aggressive
grasses, dock and nettle that can out-compete
wildflowers for water, nutrients, space and
light.
On two recent drainage improvement
schemes on the A35 in Dorset, the company
took the opportunity to improve biodiversity and
reduce costs. Instead of importing topsoil and
seeding to return the verges to grass, it funded
a scheme to introduce native wildflowers.
It liaised and worked with the bordering
Duchy of Cornwall estate on how best to
landscape the locations. A scheme was carried
out last autumn to seed and restore 6,000
square metres of verge around the Monkey’s
Jump roundabout and the Max Gate junction.
Species included the Horseshoe and Kidney
Vetch, Bee Orchids, Cowslip and Oxeye Daisy,
which National Highways said will support
pollinators and butterfly populations by
providing abundant flowers and caterpillar food
plants.
Utilising chalk waste and rough soils from
the drainage schemes, the initiative also
reduced the export and import of materials.
National Highways environmental advisor
Ben Hewlett says it was good to see the low
nutrient soil policy spreading into regional
works: ‘This is a great example of how we
are moving away from simply minimising
the impact of our work on the environmental
impacts, towards actually improving the
environment through our work.
‘The seeds have now germinated alongside
the A35, a wildflower grassland is beginning to
form and this will continue to evolve over the
coming years – basically it means less money
spent, less in maintenance costs and more
biodiversity.’
Mark Schofield, Plantlife’s national road
verges advisor, says: ‘This new way of working
is part of the systemic change our green
infrastructure management needs if we are to
reverse nature’s decline.’
Beyond the carbon savings of less frequent
maintenance, councils investigating how to do
more with cuttings include West Sussex County
Council and South Gloucestershire Council
with the Greenprint Live Labs 2 project, which
aims to develop a net carbon-negative model
for green infrastructure.
As readers will know, Live Labs 2:
Decarbonising Local Roads is a three-year
24
national innovation programme developed
by ADEPT and backed by £30m from the
Department for Transport.
The Greenprint project aims to explore
how grass arisings from roadsides can be
processed to generate new sources of clean
heat and power, alternative fuels and asphalt
additives and both partner authorities are
using it to move away from traditional patterns
towards less frequent cutting.
“ It’s still early days. At
the end of the project,
the idea is we create a
‘greenprint’ that could
be scalable across the
whole country, off the
shelf ”
Chris Harris, principal project officer,
engineering, at South Gloucestershire, tells
Highways that the project will also examine the
issue of ‘fugitive emissions’ – what happens if
cuttings are left to decay.
He says: ‘We’re proposing taking the grass
to an anaerobic digestion plant, it having first
been co-mingled with our local authority food
waste. The outputs [include] digestate liquor,
which goes to fertiliser; biogas, which goes to
industry, including as biomethane for vehicles;
and also biochar, which is a bitumen extender
that may be used in road construction.’
Michele Hulme, head of local highway
operations at West Sussex, says: ‘We’re
looking at two processes. One is hydrothermal
carbonisation, which is where you convert wet
biomass and the product at the end of that is
hydrochar. The other one is pyrolysis, where
you treat the grass under high temperatures
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© www.reesjeffreys.co.uk
and you get biochar.
‘We’re looking to measure the amount of
grass we’re collecting. If you put it through
these processes, what does it produce? What’s
the quality? What’s the cost? Ultimately, at the
end of that, we’re looking for products that we
can utilise, not only for our own energy. Could
we put it into road surfaces and extend the life
of roads?’
Mr Harris adds: ‘We will be investigating
how highway operations can be altered to link
in with production of the different outputs.
The nature of these relationships is complex
and so we have split the project into several
different work packages. Key elements for
investigation include an assessment of the
levels of carbon associated with changes made
to verge management operations, along with
monitoring of biodiversity levels on the verges.
‘The benefits and costs of the whole life
cycle will be examined and presented so that
by the end of the project, we have a Greenprint,
as we call it, that may be used to help other
local authorities across the country to consider
whether green infrastructure management
in other areas might be altered to reduce the
overall carbon footprint of their operations.
‘One of the requirements from ADEPT is
that we engage with the Future Highways
Research Group, whose assessment tool is
nationally recognised. If we are to assess how
making changes may have a beneficial result,
the FHRG carbon analyser toolkit provides the
means to do this.’
Ms Hulme says the project is getting a
significant amount of interest when they talk
about it at conferences, with colleagues keen to
be involved.
Mr Harris stresses that it is an innovation
project with people learning as they go. ‘No
one is rocking up to a meeting saying, we know
what to do, we’ll do it this way. It’s a case of,
we’ll learn from each other.’
Cross-fertilisation, you might call it.
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SUSTAINABILITY
How to build the
100-year road
Richard Ashton,
market development manager, and
Gary Schofield, TotalEnergies head
of technical in the Bitumen Division,
have taken on Highways’ challenge to
describe how you can build a road to
last for 100 years
A
s transportation demands
continue to evolve, the need
for road infrastructure built
to stand the test of time has
never been greater.
How roads are used, and the conditions they
are subjected to, will undoubtedly be different
one hundred years from now, but this long-
term horizon is both a realistic and necessary
approach. To ensure infrastructure resilience
and resource efficiency, highway design must
consider factors such as climate change and
evolving vehicle types and usage patterns.
We can expect more volatile weather
conditions including hotter summers
and wetter winters, heavier vehicles, and
faster wear as electric vehicles – which are
around 30% heavier than their combustion
counterparts – are widely adopted. The
introduction of autonomous vehicles could see
travel patterns evolve with more channelised
loading.
Durability is key to future proofing. So, design
decisions need to be taken with a longer-
term view to deliver smarter, higher quality
specifications with increased lifespans.
This might include, for instance, pushing
pavement design from an 80 million standard
axle (MSA) to a 100 MSA to build longevity
into every aspect of the design process; or
improving deterioration modelling to enable
efficient preventative maintenance planning.
On the material front, investing in higher
quality materials than is required by the
current Design Manual for Roads and Bridges
is important to ensure that materials and
application processes are fit for purpose,
in particular the utilisation of good quality
polymer modified binders (PMBs) to reduce
fatigue failure – for example 75/130-75 PMB’s
in the upper layers and 25/55-65 in the lower
layers.
Underpinning each of these considerations
is the issue of funding. The current approach
of allocating an annual budget falls short
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TotalEnergies
of ensuring the highest quality and design
considerations to future-proof highways.
Instead, the priority must be sustainable
funding models that enable investment in the
right quality, and design that offers value that
extends beyond a parliamentary term and
leaves the roads in a better place than we found
them.
Surface course
The surface course, often referred to as the
sacrificial layer, offers the most opportunity for
proactive interventions to extend the life of the
road.
Using a 10mm nominal-sized aggregate
stone mastic asphalt (SMA) and a high-
performance polymer modified bitumen
(75/130-75) is recommended for durability
given its hard wearing, flexible properties.
Additionally, incorporating 10% to 20%
recycled asphalt promotes sustainability in
road construction without compromising
skid resistance, which will no doubt become
an even more significant consideration as
councils and contractors alike look to reduce
their carbon emissions and conserve finite
natural resources. High polished stone value
(PSV) is a key factor in skid resistance; however,
it also has a high abrasion value, inevitably
creating faster wear, so it should be specifically
designed to balance the aggregate size, road
speed and polished stone value to reduce the
abrasive wear of the aggregate.
Alongside material considerations, enhanced
focus on application control can make a
substantive difference to its duration. Ensuring
optimised compaction to produce less than 5%
air voids in the surface layer is crucial to reduce
oxidative ageing, stopping water ingress into
the layer and reducing the negative impact of
the freeze-thaw cycle.
To extend road longevity, the surface course
could be sprayed with an asphalt preservation
system every four or five years to arrest or
indeed reverse any microcracking that is
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starting to occur. As this approach becomes
less effective, but prior to significant surface
deterioration, consideration should be given to
full surface sealing via surface dressing. Recent
developments in terms of encapsulation
enhance the durability of this process further.
Repeat applications can be very effective every
eight or 10 years, before the need to carry out a
full resurfacing arises.
Bond coat
The bond coat serves as a damp-proof
course in between each of the layers. This
prevents water ingress vertically through the
structure and also impedes water transmitting
horizontally through the interlayer joint. It also
provides interlayer bonding ensuring the road
structure is truly monolithic. A properly applied
bond coat is essential, as ineffective bonding
can create delamination, premature fatigue or
longitudinal cracking due to the upper layer
acting independent of the rest of the structure.
This will inevitably lead to failures in the
surface course. Polymer modified bond coats
are essential for improved performance and
longevity.
Binder course
As in the surface course, a binder course with
less than 5% air voids is crucial to reduce
water ingress and reduce oxidative ageing
and cracking. Likewise, a polymer-modified
bitumen ages more slowly while offering a
more resilient structure than its counterparts.
As the binder course is not exposed to
vehicle traffic, and therefore does not need to
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www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk
offer skid resistance, a higher ratio of recycled
asphalt – up to 50% – alongside local limestone
can be incorporated to add sustainability to the
construction process. This not only protects
a finite natural resource but reduces the
carbon impact of transportation of the virgin
aggregates.
Base
As the lowest layer, the base can
Six strategies to build a 100-year road design
Increase standard axle design
The number of standard axles
determines the thickness of the road.
Transitioning from an 80-million design
to a 100-million axle standard design
will bolster the road’s durability.
Employ polymer modified bitumen
Using polymer modified bitumen
allows for a thinner road design
without compromising on performance,
resulting in greater durability and
asphalt conservation.
Design for climate change
Utilise more advanced materials and
designs to accommodate future climate
challenges, particularly materials that
can accommodate extreme heat, cold and
wet conditions. Ensure effective camber
or rolling crowns are built into roads to
allow water to run off the side, and/ or
SuDS to maximise drainage efficiency.
AUG/SEP 2023
accommodate a harder grade of polymer-
modified bitumen than the surface or binder
course to provide more structural support. It
can also accommodate a high percentage of
recycled materials to reduce the use of virgin
materials without compromising durability.
Sub-base and drainage
While the sub-base is the hardest to amend
or upgrade, by nature of its depth, it also holds
Upgrade specifications
Both National Highways and
local councils should upgrade
specifications or consider ‘departure
from specification’ requests to allow
alternative design systems that
incorporate industry best practice and
innovation.
Consider future vehicle demands
With electric vehicles weighing 30%
more and autonomous vehicles creating
channelised trafficking, road design
must account for these changing
demands.
Implement sustainable strategies
Introduce sustainable practices such
as more effective value from recycled
asphalt, potential use of solar power
generation on bridges and lighting
columns and road edging and charging
hubs for electric vehicles.
SUSTAINABILITY
© Tsuguliev//www.shutterstock.com
the key to ensuring road durability through
drainage.
The sub-base should be cement bound or
granular, with a sustainable drainage system
(SuDS) to manage surface water flow and
minimise flood risks. SuDS can be used to
manage runoff efficiently and can be stored
conventionally or turned into greywater.
SuDS operate most effectively with a porous
surfacing, which allows more water ingress
and oxidisation; however, this also requires
a more technical bitumen with even more
reduced ageing propensity to complement
and extend beyond a standard eight-year
lifespan.
Proper drainage design is one of the
strongest determinants of road lifespan, as
it prevents water ingress and minimises the
impact of the freeze-thaw cycle. As conditions
become wetter, grid drainage alone will not
be fit for purpose as blocked grids prevent
the drainage of highway runoff and lead to
standing water, microcracks, and potholes
that degrade the road quickly. A 100-year life
road needs to incorporate effective removal
of water from the system that is easily
maintainable.
Building roads with a 100-year lifespan
requires a departure from the status quo.
Embracing innovative funding models,
sustainable materials, and forward-thinking
design practices will ensure roads meet
the challenges of the future. Prioritising
durability, adaptability and sustainability are
critical to creating roadways that stand the
test of time.
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SUSTAINABILITY
Decarbonisation through
product innovation
Nigel Bullock (right), head of solutions at Hardstaff Barriers,
part of Hill and Smith Infrastructure, spotlights how
sustainability and decarbonisation has been a key driver
behind its recent product innovation
N
ational Highways’ Net Zero
Plan is based on three
headline commitments: net
zero for National Highways
operations by 2030, net zero
for maintenance and construction by 2040 and
net zero carbon travel on its roads by 2050.
Hill and Smith is firmly committed to
supporting the plan. Our own net zero target
is aligned with National Highways’ pledge
to achieve net zero carbon emissions for
maintenance and construction operations on
the strategic road network by 2040.
To help realise this, the company has been
working to deliver product innovations as well
as ensuring its manufacturing and installation
systems are as efficient as possible.
This was demonstrated recently with
the launch of the REBLOC H1 Barrier.
Transforming our precast H2 containment
Rigid Concrete Barrier (RCB), RB 80XA,
through value engineering we have
successfully delivered a new H1 RCB product,
which removes material cost and mitigates
carbon impact.
The new barrier has been successfully
crash tested to the required performance level
of H1 containment and requires 50% less steel
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and 20% less concrete per unit compared
to the original H2 REBLOC RB 80XA. An
installation of 1,000 metres of the new H1
barrier realises a 5,250kg reduction in steel
and requires 40m3 less concrete.
Working with our long-term strategic
partners Hanson HeidelbergCement Group
and SWP Concrete Solutions in the production
of our REBLOC Barrier range, we have also
produced a low carbon concrete, decreasing
the CO2 emissions associated with standard
CEM1 concrete by 33%.
Developed using Ground Granulated Blast
Furnace Slag (GGBS) as a replacement
for cement content in the concrete – and
combined with an admixture to help with
product setting – the result is a concrete
barrier with a reduction in embodied CO2 of
approximately 780kg for every tonne of CEM1
Portland cement it replaces.
While GGBS is not new to the industry, what
is unique in this strategic collaboration is its
use where early strength is required as well as
the use of admixture technology that has not
compromised performance.
Hill and Smith also has full external
verification of this carbon data so the sector is
supported with a robust kg/CO2/m³ indication.
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This can also be underpinned with an
indicative environmental product declaration
(EPD), generated using lifecycle tools and
aligned to the product category rules for Type
III construction products in EN 15804. Detailing
the CO2 emissions for the concrete mix and
providing further detail of where emissions
occur along the value chain, this EPD provides
transparency across the supply chain.
It’s worth noting that our partner, Hanson
UK, has reduced its CO2 emissions in the
UK by more than 50% since 1990 – with
a roadmap to achieve net zero by 2050.
Hanson is the largest producer of low carbon
concrete in the UK – demonstrating how the
construction sector is making strong progress
on the UK’s net zero goals.
Further developments from Hill and
Smith are also underway, including a self-
compacting mix to improve the production
process and the use of wireless concrete
sensors to monitor temperature and strength
gain every fifteen minutes.
Our commitment to reducing carbon
impact has also been considered in the
manufacturing process. Both the H1 and
H2 barriers have the same external profile,
facilitating a seamless production switch
through the use of existing production moulds,
lowering carbon as well as costs.
Taking a fresh approach to RCB design,
and using a surface mounted precast
barrier, the REBLOC range is designed to
be implemented with minimal civils work
and managed construction risks. This was
demonstrated recently with the placement of
700 metres of H2 barriers in only four working
hours, reducing the construction programme,
minimising impact on the customer, reducing
overall scheme cost and delivering minimal
carbon impact.
The combination of a precast solution,
collaborative project planning and delivery,
as well as the H1 RCB product innovations
deliver a positive contribution to the sector’s
overall carbon impact. Benefits are realised
through a range of factors including
decreased site traffic and time on site
and reduced project delivery time frames,
resulting in less pollution and minimal
customer impact and a significant reduction
in the use of materials such as steel and
concrete.
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