VolkerHighways has successfully completed an entire surfacing programme whilst remaining carbon neutral, thanks to the innovative use of reduced carbon surfacing project, Milepave™
The works, delivered in collaboration with Miles Macadam and West Berkshire Council, form part of VolkerHighways’ seven-year highways maintenance and public realm contract with the council.
The project involved laying 32,000m2 of Milepave™, across four sites in West Berkshire, after the existing surfaces had suffered a significant amount of wear and tear. Milepave™ is an asphalt grouted warm mix surface course, that has a lower carbon footprint than conventional surfacing products. The product combines micro asphalt and slurry sealing with traditional surfacing techniques. Secondary sealing of the surface course also prevents fretting, reduces the speed of oxidation, and reinforces surface strength.
As the solution is more open-textured, it allows grout to penetrate through the material. This means less raw material is required, and leads to a saving of approximately 40 tonnes of material. Additionally, the process only requires bitumen content of 5%, saving 5.2 tonnes across the schemes.
By using this process, the overall carbon footprint of the surfacing programme was reduced by approximately 38%, compared to conventional surfacing materials. Contributing to the schemes achievement of its carbon neutral status, the business has committed to off-setting the residual carbon footprint by planting 152 trees as part of the UK Tree Planting and Brazil Deforestation project.
This is the third time that Miles Macadam has used this this innovative solution as part of a carbon neutral surfacing scheme, and supports West Berkshire Council’s Environment Strategy and VolkerHighways’ People-Planet-Purpose framework.
Kunle Kolaru, operations director for VolkerHighways, said: “It’s great to see the industry moving to reduce carbon emissions and finding innovative ways to improve the environment. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to trial Milepave™ at sites across West Berkshire.”
Kit Ebben, director for Miles Macadam, said: “Our carbon neutral schemes have proven to be of great interest to several local authorities around the UK. It is fantastic to see yet another council utilising the scheme in their borough and investing in a sustainable and durable, low carbon surfacing material.”
Councillor Richard Somner, West Berkshire Council’s Executive Member for Transport said: “It’s fantastic to see that our contractor has been able to deliver this road improvement for us whilst remaining carbon neutral. It supports our climate emergency declaration and our goal for the district to become carbon neutral by 2030. It’s an excellent collaboration between the Council and our partners to deliver improvements to our infrastructure in a more sustainable way.”
Carbon emissions are calculated by Miles Macadam and verified by Carbon Footprint Ltd.
