4 June 2006 - CARRIAGEWAY CONTRACT PUTS FOCUS ON ROAD RECYCLING
One of the most well-known routes leading into Newcastle city centre is the focus for an innovative road recycling contract, which aims to improve traffic flow by transforming a single lane road into a dual carriageway.
The historic A695 Scotswood Road is named in a song written and performed by George Ridley in 1892 called 'Blaydon Races'. Since then the road has developed to become a main artery carrying traffic from the west into Newcastle city centre.
As surfacing sub contractor to the project, Tarmac has designed and developed a road recycling solution which has been carefully planned to maximise use of recycled materials. In order to construct the new traffic lane and renew the existing road surface along the 6 km route, Tarmac has manufactured and laid 10,000 tonnes of foam-mix for the new base layer, using aggregates planed from the existing old carriageway together with aggregates planed from existing redundant carriageway together with aggregates planed from a nearby site on the North East's trunk road network. A further 15,000 tonnes of asphalt for the upper layers has been manufactured from virgin aggregates supplied from nearby Tarmac quarries.
Main contractor, Birse, has carried out extensive ground works in preparation for the surfacing which includes a wide range of kerbing, block paving, foundation and drainage works. Work began in late 2005 and the surfacing works are due for completion in June 2006.
The programme of road works started with construction of a new 1000 metre stretch of road, which was constructed from virgin aggregates in the usual way and is now open to traffic. The adjacent old road was then milled using 2 metre wide road planers with the risings transported to a foam-mix manufacturing unit erected on a nearby disused brownfield site. The existing concrete kerbs have been removed, transported to the same brownfield site, before being crushed and graded as part of the recycling process. All the aggregates were then screened and graded again before being processed using the foam-mix plant. The plant uses a mixture of foamed bitumen and cement to manufacture a product that complies with all the requirements of modern road design.
The newly manufactured foam-mix, called Tarmac FoamMaster, was then transported back to the site and relaid to an overall thickness of 200mm. A new 100mm surface of conventional asphalt base and Tarmac's Masterflex wearing course was used to complete the road surface.
The specification for the new surface has been provided by Tarmac and is based on the company's extensive road recycling knowledge and expertise. Tarmac was also responsible for managing the planing contract and implementing the programme of surfacing works from start to finish.
Basil Larter, Tarmac's contracting director in the North, said:
"From the outset, Newcastle City Council had a priority to recycle as much of the old carriageway as possible.
"This has been a particularly interesting and challenging contract for us as we have been responsible for delivering a major road dualling scheme in the most sustainable way possible.
"In the early stages of the contract we had hoped to erect the road recycling plant and equipment very close to the new carriageway, which would have helped to keep traffic movements to a minimum. However, this was not possible as the area originally identified was a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSi) and provides a habitat for the South American Butterfly that was transported to Tyne area via cargo boats in the early 1930s. The brownfield site at Newburn was the next best option, just three miles away from the site and we have been able to process the recycled aggregates and return them to the site in a timely way.
"Careful planning and our decision to phase the programme of works to maximise the use of recycled materials - using virgin aggregates only at the start and finish - has been a prime factor in the success of the contract. In so doing, we have delivered Birse and Newcastle City Council an innovative and sustainable road surfacing solution."
Recognising this growing demand for high performance road recycling solutions, Tarmac is expanding its road recycling capabilities and has recently acquired National Road Planing Ltd and invested in its mobile FoamMaster plant operation.
Ends
For further information please contact Christine Smart, Rebecca Cowley, Delia Elcock at IAS Smarts on 0121 456 3199 or email: christine.smart@iassmarts.com.
