Motorway Project Blazes Trail As Recycle Week 2016 Gets Underway

Scottish Roads Partnership, the company tasked with constructing the project along with their main contractors Ferrovial Lagan Joint Venture and Amey, has recycled more than 90 per cent of waste on the project. This has included:

• Over 1 million tonnes of unsuitable earth material have been treated with lime and used for the construction of engineering fills and embankments saving 200,000 hours of lorry journeys to the site.
• Four major road bridges have been demolished so far and their waste material crushed to produce aggregates to be re-used for construction of the new roads.
• A 2.3km-long concrete barrier between Eurocentral and Chapelhall on the A8 is being crushed to produce more than 5,000 tonnes of capping material for access lanes
• More than 20,000 tonnes of material have been taken off the site and delivered to the country’s leading recycling companies.
• 180,000 square metres of tar from old roads have been lifted, processed and crushed so that it can be incorporated in the new roads being built.
• Up to 5km of old cast iron pipes have already been dug up and sent to recycling centres to be turned into new steel products.

Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Job & Fair Work Keith Brown, said:
"The Scottish Government is committed to a Greener Scotland – from more sustainable projects through to improving our natural and built environment.

"We are committed to sustainable economic growth in Scotland and the project’s economic and urban regeneration benefits upon completion are clear - but it’s also important that during delivery of this infrastructure project all of the activities on site are as sustainable as possible.

"I welcome the considerable efforts made by the contractor to enhance its green credentials and deliver this project in an environmentally-friendly way”.

Giant concrete crushers were brought in to allow waste material to be crushed to produce new materials for re-use on site.

Entire bridges no longer fit for purpose have been demolished and the 1960’s concrete contained within them will now provide the foundations for miles of new roads and pavements.

Julio Sancho, manager for the Raith Interchange section of the project, reveals the recycling drive is also cost effective. He said:

“The amount of stone we have saved from being imported is massive.

“Crushing machines are used to turn waste concrete into material that we can use to form the base layer of the new roads.

“Just by crushing the concrete, we save time because we don’t need to wait for material to be delivered. We make exactly what we need, as we need it.
“These are great lessons we have learned and methods which can be used on many other projects.”

Alfredo Sobrino, construction manager, believes the methods being utilised are much more environmentally friendly. He said:

“The treatment of around one million tonnes of soil with lime have avoided the removal and disposal of the material off site and the import of the same quantity of material which would have required in excess of 200,000 lorry hours on the road.

“Processing and crushing the old tar to produce aggregates minimises the use of quarry material, again saving over 20,000 lorry hours.

“Minimising the amount of lorry hours cuts CO2 emissions and also avoids further impact on the road network.”

Gabriel Valtueña-Ramos, SRP General Manager, has confirmed that the innovative recycling methods being used on the project have proved to be both cost effective and are better for the environment. He said:

“Recycling is an issue we have taken seriously on this project from the outset. We set ourselves high standards which has delivered real benefits.

“Not only have we been more environmentally friendly, but we have also allowed more money to be saved through recycling and invested elsewhere in the project.”