Centre Wellington to be first municipality worldwide to use bio-resin road base
Centre Wellington will soon be the first municipality in the world to use bio-resin as a method to increase its road base strength.
Following the results of a pilot project with Cambridge-based BioDiffusion Technologies Inc. (BDT) last summer, council has approved staff recommendations for a large-scale application of the bioresin on Eighth Line West from Sideroad 11 to Wellington Road 17 later this year.
This will extend the existing pilot project on Eighth Line West by three kilometres and is intended to increase the road base strength.
Bio-resins are made from plantbased materials instead of petroleum products. According to the BDT website, their product creates a hard, hydrophobic surface for roads and other walking surfaces when combined with recycled asphalt, aggregate or recycled concrete.
Initially completed on 300-metres of Eighth Line West, the report said several tests during the pilot concluded the bio-resin-treated road was approximately 20 per cent stronger than the untreated segment and will translate to an estimated five-year increase in the pavement’s service life.
The report said the resulting longer service life translates to an estimated $25,000 cost benefit per two-lane kilometre of roadway, despite the higher upfront capital cost associated with applying bioresin.
Already planned to be repaved in the township’s 2024 budget, the report said this segment of the Eighth Line West has average daily traffic counts exceeding 1,000 vehicles per day, with a significant share of heavy truck traffic from operating quarries in the area and has shown patterns of pavement failure which makes it an ideal candidate for the proposal.
While the estimated application cost provided by BDT is $191,868, the report said the collaboration’s cost will be funded through the existing project budget of $1,675,000 which was approved during the 2024 budget process.
The proposal is estimated to save the township $75,000 over the pavement’s life cycle and staff said during the meeting Centre Wellington will be the first municipality in the world to use the method.