M-way upgrade takes recycling to a new level
The £500m M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project, which will upgrade the central Scotland motorway network, has become one of the largest recycling schemes in the country.
Scottish Roads Partnership, the company tasked with constructing the project along with their main contractors Ferrovial Lagan Joint Venture and Amey, have recycled more than 90 per cent of waste on the project. This has included:
• Over one 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.
• 2.3km-long concrete barrier between Eurocentral and Chapelhall on the A8 is being crushed to produce more than 5000 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
Aleading 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 five kilometres of old cast iron pipes have already been dug up and sent to recycling centres to be turned into new steel products.
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 1960s 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.”