At the very core of how we live, work and commute in our\ndaily life lies the global road network. It is perhaps the single largest\nsystem ever built by man. However, it is the very scale of this network that\nhas over the years become one of the largest contributors of greenhouse\nemission of all human endeavors. Though the road types may vary based on\nlocation, purpose and method of construction most of the materials used still\nremain crushed rock, sand and asphalt. With the need for sustainability becoming\nmore defining there needs to be a change either through the fossil energy\nconsumed during the construction process or through a shift in materials\nutilized. <\/p>
It’s not that the philosophy of sustainability is missing in the construction at large, in fact it has been widely adopted by many areas with the most notable being commercial architecture. Many AEC firms have managed to utilize modern technology to implement renewable energy systems, make use of green building materials or successfully used BIM Services<\/a> in the planning stage for better administration of resources and reduction of waste. <\/p> The road construction industry however has a long way to go.\nThe highway agencies and engineers are gradually rising to the occasion by\nactively looking for innovative designs and practices to meet this new\nobjective. Greenroads are quickly becoming the solution that they were seeking.\nThese are roadway projects that have been designed and constructed to a\nconsiderably higher level of sustainability than what is the customary\npractice. Below we identify three innovative approaches that will perhaps be a\ncommon practice in the future. <\/p> 1.<\/strong> Material Selection: <\/strong><\/p> In order to noticeably reduce the carbon emissions, the\nmajor contributing factor will have to evolve to become more sustainable. This\nmeans a change of the materials that are used in the process of road\nconstruction. The new materials will not only have to benefit the environment\nbut also work at being stronger and lasting. There are a lot of developments\ntaking place across the world but the below three materials and their\npioneering way of use has gained prominence: <\/p> The use of post-consumer plastic waste to build more\nsustainable roads not only replaces the more finite materials of road construction\nbut also reduces plastic pollution along the way. This process of using melted\nplastic to fill potholes has been prevalent in India for many years but it was\nthe British who took it one step further. British Engineer Toby McCartney\ndeveloped a method of converting plastic bottles into small pallets that could\nbe added into the asphalt mix. In every kilometer of road construction\napproximately 10 tonnes of asphalt is utilized. This technique allows to mix\n3-10 Kilograms of plastic waste in every tonne of asphalt. This not just\nincreases the bulk but also makes the roads 60% more stronger and 10 times more\ndurable. <\/p> One of the properties of plastic is that it is virtually\nimpossible to dispose of but this very property could also be useful to\nincrease the resilience of roads. A Dutch company has used this to develop\nplastic roads. These are prefabricated modular roadways made completely\nrecycled plastic. By using plastic, the road expectancy can be increased by 2-3\ntimes than the conventional roads. It has also taken away the frequent hassle\nthat goes into maintenance of roads . These roads are designed in a hollow\nmanner which also allows the service pipes and cables to feed through the road\ndesk and removes the need to dig deep into the Earth’s surface. Also, these\nmaterials are four times lighter and around 70% faster to transport. Thus,\nthere is also a reduction in time and resources that are spent in\ntransportation and installation of roads. <\/p> Incorporating solar panels into the road system is a way to\nconvert a static piece of infrastructure into a major source of renewable\nenergy. Many road construction companies in Europe and USA have developed\nprototypes which have the strength needed to witness heavy traffic and a long\nlife expectancy. But for experts there are some hesitations about the vehicles\ndriving over the toughened glass or silica which is required to protect the\nphotovoltaic elements of these solar panels. Additionally, the question does\nremain about the effectivity of these horizontal solar panels in comparison to\ndiagonal solar panels. However, research is constantly being done and we might\nfind solar roads in a street nearby very soon! <\/p> In the next article we will continue to discuss what more is required to create sustainable roads. We will talk about construction methodology and how the key benefits of Virtual 3D Modelling like BIM Coordination<\/a>, Clash Detection etc. will benefit the engineers. We will also shine a light on how Scan to BIM services can be used for the reconstruction of old roads.<\/p>