Wednesday 17 November 2021

A46 road rebuilt using 56% of recycled materials

National Highways’ A46 looks to become the precedent for cutting carbon on British roads on the journey to net zero.

That’s because in its resurfacing process, contractors have recycled more than half the materials from the old road into the new one and cut the carbon footprint by 23% in the process.

More than 17,400 tonnes of material were reused to make the road smoother for drivers and prevented from going to landfill.

The resurfacing took place on more than 3.5 miles of the road, in which the contractors took out the tar from the old and damaged road and reimplemented it into the mix for the new surface.

To keep the carbon footprint of the process low, the material was mixed on site – and without trips to waste sites, the environmental impact of around 82,000 road miles are estimated to have been saved.

National Highways Project Manager, Ryan Davies, said: “We have committed, through our net zero carbon plan, to rapidly cut carbon from road construction, maintenance and operations and support the transition to zero-emission vehicles.

“A vital part of meeting our ambitious objectives is having the support of our supply chain on schemes such as this. Through close collaboration with partners, we are taking great strides on our journey to net zero carbon.”