Plastic pavement - high-quality roads and care for nature. Plastic roads will be built in Russia What is cold asphalt and what is its peculiarity

recycled plastic has many applications, one of them is the creation of road surfaces.

There are about 40 million km of roads on the planet, and 1.6 trillion tons are spent annually to expand this network and create new highways.

One of the main components of the asphalt mix is ​​bitumen, the content of which varies from 10 to 60%.

Partial replacement of this material with recycled plastic will solve the problem of environmental pollution and improve the practical characteristics of the road surface.

In 2002, engineers from the Indian company KK Plastic Waste Management Ltd patented a technology for using plastic waste in asphalt roads.

This firm owns a plant in Bangalore, processing today up to 30 metric tons plastics per day.

The use of innovative materials will help reduce the cost of laying and maintaining highways, rid cities of plastic waste.

Another good idea for road construction is crumb rubber asphalt, which you can read about.

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Recycled plastic additives are increasingly being used in road surfaces. This road surface is stronger and more durable. Today, this technology is used and developed by manufacturers from different countries.

Recycled plastic has many uses, and one of them is road construction. To date, coatings based on recycled plastic are one of the promising areas in this area.

The road surface, created using recycled plastic, has increased strength and high water resistance.

Benefits of this approach include reduced road maintenance costs, lower asphalt costs, and reduced waste disposal costs. At the same time, the road surface created using recycled plastic has increased strength (including tensile strength) and high water resistance, has good grip, and is more resistant to engine oil and fuel. Due to the plasticity of the additive, it is less deformed over time, and the number of cracks that appear during operation is minimal.

For the first time, the technology of using recycled plastic in road construction was patented in 2002 by the Indian KK Plastic Waste Management Ltd. The company's engineers have developed KK PolyBlend, a polymer blend based on recycled plastic bags, plastic cups and PET bottles.

Pavement created with KK PolyBlend. Photo: facebook.com/plasticroads.

For every kilometer of road built using MR pellets, about 684,000 PET bottles or 1.8 million plastic bags are used.

The mixture replaces 8% of the bitumen in the asphalt mix and improves pavement performance. In Bangalore, where the company's waste treatment plant is located, about 2,000 km of roads were built using KK PolyBlend. In total, this required 8,000 tons of plastic waste. The pavement has stood the test of time: in 2009, India's Central Pollution Control Board conducted a study that showed that roads created using the new technology maintain the integrity of the pavement without cracks and potholes. The plastic component stiffens the bitumen and prevents water from seeping into the coating. According to producers of "plastic" bitumen, the amount of recycled waste needed to lay one kilometer of road is about 1.5 tons (which is 3 to 4 tons of unrecycled plastic).

The idea was picked up by the Scottish company MacRebur. Toby McCartney, its founder and mastermind, developed his own technology for the production of granules from recycled plastic called MR. In total, the company offered three modifications of the pellets. MR6 is designed to increase the strength and shape of asphalt on low speed roads or at bus stops and is effective in hot climates. MR10 improves blade flexibility and stability in cold conditions. And MR8 is proposed as a complete replacement for bitumen.

Asphalt paving using MR. Photo: macrebur.com.

Using 20% ​​recycled plastic in the form of low-melting granules can reduce asphalt paving temperatures by 40%.

According to McCartney, the technology can solve two problems at once: improve the quality of roads and solve the problem of plastic waste. However, he refuses to fully disclose the composition of his innovative development, which, apart from him, is known only to two co-founders of MacRebur. They point out that their solution includes the use of non-recyclable plastics intended for landfill or incineration. For every kilometer of road built using MR pellets, about 684,000 PET bottles or 1.8 million plastic bags are used. The company's specialists claim that the technology increases the strength of the road surface by 60% and extends its service life by 10 times.

The first road built using MR pellets was opened in the northwest of the UK, in the county of Cumbria, in 2017. By 2019, the development reached the British capital: "plastic" asphalt was used to lay a bike path passing through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

The first plastic road in Cumbria. Photo: facebook.com/pg-macrebur.

Founded in 2011 and recognized last year as one of Canada's fastest growing companies, Green Mantra develops polymer additives based on recycled plastics not only for road construction, but also in the asphalt roofing and composites industries. In addition, the company is building a production line with new technology that can convert polystyrene waste into modified ink resins. But its main development is an innovative technology that makes it possible to use up to 20% of recycled plastic in the form of easily melting granules when creating a roadway and thereby reduce the temperature of asphalt laying by 40%. Today, modified asphalt is being used extensively in Vancouver, including on high-traffic sections of arterial roads.

In some places, such ideas seem like madness, but there is certainly some truth in every madness. Let's look for it here for example.

The European company VolkerWessels, based in the Netherlands, has proposed building roads from recycled plastic. According to the representatives of the company, the new technology will reduce construction costs and increase the durability of highways.

I didn't find any information on how much mass this road can support (who knows?), but if a section breaks I think that replacement and a hole will be a decent problem.

But here are more details about such a road ...

The roads will consist of separate hollow sections interconnected. Recycled plastic, resistant to corrosion and atmospheric conditions, is able to withstand temperatures from minus 40 to plus 80 degrees Celsius. The service life of such a coating can be about three times longer than that of asphalt. The absence of the need for constant repairs will reduce the number of traffic jams.

Another advantage of a plastic road is its ease of installation in sandy and depleted soil. In addition, hollow niches inside the panels can serve to drain water, as well as be used for laying pipes and cables.

“The potential of our concept is very high. In the future, we expect to involve new partners in the development, as well as plastic processing enterprises, which will contribute to the development of the entire industry,” VolkerWessels noted.

The only disadvantage of the plastic road is that it can be slippery when it rains. In addition, the construction of such roads will take weeks, not months. The plastic road is light, which reduces pressure on the ground, and hollow, which provides quick access to underground utilities.

At the moment, the municipality of the city of Rotterdam is interested in the technology of creating plastic roads.

According to the idea of ​​VolkerWessels, the ocean, in which a huge amount of plastic waste has accumulated, will become the supplier of material for the production of PlasticRoad road blocks. In addition to cleansing the environment, if widely adopted, this technology will also reduce harmful emissions.

By the way, asphalt accounts for 2% of all carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by the global transport system.

The possibility of testing "plastic" roads in real conditions is considered by the authorities of Rotterdam, by order of which the project was developed. Most likely, a working prototype of PlasticRoad will be built in a local "street laboratory" within three years.

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According to the National Geographic Society, 9 million tons of plastic enters the ocean every year. At the same time, only 9.5% of plastic waste is recycled in the world. The scale of pollution is so high that the environmental community is talking about a crisis. To help the planet, Dow Chemical, a major chemical company, has decided to use plastic waste to build roads.

Us in website such actions are very impressive, so we want to tell readers about a non-trivial innovation.

In the ocean, there are entire garbage islands, the most famous of which is the Pacific garbage canal, or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is not uncommon for fish and other ocean dwellers to mistake plastic waste for food: explorers cover lids, lighters and other small items in the stomachs of animals and birds.

Some types of garbage release substances that react with water and poison it. According to research, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are dumping more plastic waste into the ocean than the rest of the world.

Dow Chemical is not indifferent to ocean pollution. Therefore, since 2017, the company has been cooperating with the Indonesian government. The goal is to reduce the amount of garbage thrown into the ocean by 20% by 2025. The company's assistance is not typical, because the garbage is not just disposed of at special plants, but is involved in recycling - the process of returning waste to the production cycle.

Dow specialists recycle waste and use this material to build roads. In addition to the resulting substance, the roadway contains minerals and bitumen, but their ratio is kept secret.

The first tests of plastic roads were carried out in the city of Depok. The prototype was 1.8 km long and covered an area of ​​9,781 sq. m, it took 3.5 tons of plastic waste. The tests were carried out for two months, after which the road was recognized as more durable and stable than traditional ones.

Such roads are more durable than conventional asphalt roads: they are much less susceptible to mechanical damage and corrosion. The roadway comfortably tolerates temperatures from -40 °C to +80 °C. The coating is wear-resistant, which means that there will be fewer potholes. In the future, this may even reduce the number of accidents and traffic jams. Specialists from Dow Chemical are confident that roads made of plastic bottles will last at least 50 years, while ordinary ones - only about 16.

Skeptics worry that new roads may emit harmful substances, but for this to happen, temperatures must reach 270 ° C. There is another benefit: the production of plastic roads produces 30 tons less greenhouse gases, because 10% of the bitumen in them is replaced by recycled plastic.

Plastic roads already exist in the United States, and their construction is also planned in Thailand. However, Dow Chemical's initiatives are not limited to this. Thus, the company's employees and members of their families are cleaning the coastlines in their places of residence, participating in the new program.

The program is called #PullingOurWeight, and its conditions are simple: each person must remove at least four pounds of waste - the average amount of each inhabitant of the planet produces daily. By October last year, by common efforts, it was

Roads with pits and cracks are an integral part of the harsh realities in Russia. The roadbed wears out faster than it is renewed and this is due to the expensive cost of the roadbed, unscrupulous contractors and building materials, as well as limited, sometimes not fully received funding for new construction, reconstruction of roads. In the press and on the Internet, reports periodically slip about cheap and quickly assembled plastic roads that promise to save natural resources. The Dutch promise to make a "revolution in road construction" and their new development is a plastic road surface.

What are the advantages of plastic pavement

Plastic pavement is an innovative pilot project that can significantly improve the environment and the condition of the pavement. It is quite possible that in the next century such roads will replace conventional asphalt pavements and sidewalks.

Reference: ordinary roads contain 90% sand, 10% bitumen.

The Dutch companies WolkerWessels and KWS Infra have been seriously thinking about the creation of plastic roads since 2015. The project was named PlasticRoad, which means "plastic road" in English. This is an innovative polymer road concept, which provides for the installation of a highway using the locking system of Watteway plastic hollow panels.

According to the authors of the project, PlasticRoad will have greater wear resistance and will enable the design of completely new roads: quiet pavements, heated pavements or speed control and covert video recording of all road users.

Technological features

Plastic pavement has the following advantages:

• low cost,
• high production rates,
• waste disposal in the environment,
• density, wear resistance, resistance to temperature extremes,
• ease of care, durability,
• installation of underground communications,
• reduction of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere during installation.

Low price, waste disposal

Such panels are created in most cases from cheap raw materials: recycled plastic and garbage. The company cares about the environmental situation on the planet and offers to use cheap raw materials in waste dumps and maintain the correct sorting of household and industrial waste.

Installation time

It will be possible to install the modules on the sandy layer with a locking system, and the production time will take weeks, not months, as is the case with the layered laying of standard coatings.

Specifications

Thanks to their low weight, the modules can be easily transported and mounted on any type of soil. Under the lightness of the slab, the soil does not sag, and the density and thickness make it possible to withstand the loads of freight transport and the intensive flow of road users.

Engineers made sure that such a road is able to withstand temperature fluctuations from -40 degrees to +80 degrees, exposure to chemicals and will not be able to accumulate heat. The construction of such a road is possible in hot and cold countries.

Durability

The developers promise that the life of plastic-type roads will increase by 30-40% compared to conventional highways. Roads made of plastic panels will become less sensitive to the formation of holes and chips, corrosion. It is also important that when the road module wears out, it can be sent for recycling.

Underground communications

The slab is hollow inside, which makes it possible to install sensors for the speed and number of vehicles in the structure, lay water supply networks, drainage systems, and electrical cables without labor costs for digging trenches.

Reduction of harmful emissions during installation

Every year, 2% of all carbon dioxide "flies" into the environment on the planet from the global road network. The production of roads from asphalt pavement also has its negative consequences, and bitumen and asphalt vapors pollute the atmosphere. Polymer roads are less toxic, which is another plus in their favor.

“Together with Total and Wavin, we now have enough experience, information, and resources to take real steps to implement this innovation. We expect that the prototype will be ready by the beginning of 2018,” said Simon Jorritsma and Anne Kudstaal, inventors of the polymer pavement.

Detailed production technology is kept in the strictest confidence, it is not yet freely available. But the company promises to start implementing the project in Rotterdam as early as 2018. The city authorities have already given their consent to the implementation of the project. The authors of the project are looking for performers and partners.

If the project is successful, then the technology, starting from the countries of Europe, will acquire a massive shade.

Problems in the execution of the project

The alleged disadvantages that stop the production of plastic-type roads include:

• sliding during rain and other precipitation,
• ingress of water into the cavity of the plate and the possibility of freezing and rupture of the plate,
• low fire resistance of the coating,
• horizontal shifts during operation.

Slip

When water gets on the plastic, the friction force decreases. To solve the problem, additional components in the form of gravel and concrete may be added.

Water resistance

To prevent water ingress, a sealing system for the plates is being worked out.

fire resistance

There are many grades of polymers, many of which have non-combustible properties.

But, in spite of everything, design organizations and builders are solving these issues and perhaps now they are introducing test roads.

Plastic roads in Russia

The idea of ​​plastic modules is not new. For more than 5 years, portable roads have been used in military affairs in Russia. Such a road is resistant to heavy equipment and artillery.

Plastic road modules with an anti-slip coating are produced at the glass-reinforced plastics plant of OAO Tverstekloplastik, which is part of the Ruscomposite Group of Companies in the city of Tver. The technology is widely used by the army. They are used for passing swampy, strongly bumpy sections of the road. The slabs are mobile, not hollow, and are fastened together with a pin-hole locking system. There are already 5 types of slabs, with three types of locking systems, but, in fact, they are all universal.

Installation does not require special knowledge; such a coating can be assembled 800 km long by an untrained battalion per day. It is enough to mount one plate by two to four people. After the passage of vehicles, the plates are dismantled and reused.

Such roads are often used in the construction of gas or oil pipelines in the permafrost zone, in wetlands, in the taiga, forest tundra or tundra.

Recently, the Ruscomposite Group of Companies applied for a patent in the manufacture of a “plastic” road for mass use to the Federal Road Traffic Agency.

A civil project in Rosavtodor of wide use on a “national scale” is still being considered on paper. There are a number of reasons for this. The main reason is funding, which sometimes is not enough even for ordinary patching. Also, for the introduction of innovation, a large amount of recycled polymer is needed, but so far mass sorting and collection of waste has not been finally established. And the third reason is the lengthy preparation of the regulatory framework (GOSTs, certificates, SNiPs), with the testing of the roadway in the country in specific climatic conditions.

Most likely, it will be possible to manufacture plastic sidewalks, plastic road tiles or curbs.

In India, in 2002, the first "plastic" road Jambulingam Street was laid. She survived many natural disasters in the form of monsoons, floods, high temperatures and is a kind of landmark of the country. In 2006, Thiagarajar College of Engineering received a patent for the production technology and submitted its proposal to the Federal Road Traffic Agency.

In England, engineer Toby McCartney spent 1.5 years testing and paved part of the road in Cumbria to his house with the addition of plastic pellets recycled from plastic waste.

In Canada, molten plastic is added to hot mixes to make the road more stable. The patent belongs to GreenMantra, which received investments from the country's budget in 2013 to develop new technologies.