Overview
An £8 million National Highways carriageway reconstruction in Cumbria designed by Amey is the UK’s first carbon neutral road improvement project.
Working alongside specialist contractors, Amey Consulting designed the carriageway resurfacing and reconstruction between M6 junction 36 and the Brettargh Holt roundabout.
Amey Consulting’s carbon modelling experts worked with National Highways and contractors to measure the carbon benefits of the scheme.
Carbon savings were made across three main areas:
- Materials reduction and reuse
- Energy reduction
- Transportation efficiencies Key initiatives included on site foammix recycling of existing road surface plainings to produce a cold asphalt.
Benefits
This UK first delivered impressive results:
- Reduced carbon emissions by 43%
- Erased the need for approximately 6,000 HGV movements, saving 230 tonnes of CO2e
- Use of solar powered generators, lighting, signage, CCTV and catering facilities, along with the use of electric vehicles, saved approximately 70 tonnes of CO2e
The project also delivered other benefits to the local community. The shortened construction programme reduced road diversions and traffic management measures and the greater porosity of the recycled road surface reduced vehicle rolling noise.
As well as pioneering new ways of working and delivering impressive environmental results, Amey Consulting’s project design delivered a cost saving of £3 million.