Wednesday 6 May 2020

Humes provides carbon-neutral cement culverts for Australian freight network

Humes has provided Inland Rail with 22,625 tonnes of carbon-neutral precast concrete culverts.

These concrete structures will save over 7,250 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of removing about 1,350 vehicles from the road for a year or equal to the total energy consumption of 1,028 Australian homes for a year, including all heating, cooling, cooking, hot water, appliances and lighting.

The company says the carbon footprint of the products were reduced using supplementary cementitious material with the remaining emissions neutralised through certified carbon offsets.

The culverts were installed on the new rail track and road connections as part of the 103-kilometre Parkes to Narromine section of the Inland Rail project, the largest freight rail infrastructure project in Australia spanning more than 1,700 kilometres.

Brad Jackson, Inland Rail Delivery Manager, said: “Inland Rail is committed to embracing sustainability innovation, providing lasting benefit to communities along the alignment and creating positive improvements across the entire rail supply chain.

“What Humes achieved shows that the supply chain wants to do better and they see the value in pursuing the reach for sustainability and carbon reductions."