Old road surface paves the way for local park upgrades
Highways England is turning waste from a major road improvement into new footpaths for walkers at a nearby park.
Around 250 tonnes of the old surface from an improvement on the A19 in North Tyneside is benefitting Benton Quarry Park in Benton.
Recycling this waste material has reduced the carbon footprint created by the wagon movements by 70% and also avoiding useable material going to landfill.
The A19 Coast Road scheme was approached by the Friends of Benton Quarry Park towards the end of last year to see if there was anything they could do to help.
Highways England assistant project manager Steven Cox said: “Our contractors, Sisk Lagan JV, looked into what we could offer and decided to use what would be waste material to us, for the base of the footpaths.”
“This form of recycling has already been used on the scheme where we have used the old surface to create a base for some of the slip roads and footpaths. This recycling will benefit everyone involved.”
This is one of many examples where Highways England is re-using or recycling materials, or rethinking how materials are used in building and maintaining our road network in line with our Sustainable Development Strategy.
Other examples include making use of recycled or secondary aggregates in road construction and reducing the use of materials by improving design. For instance, as part of the M3 Smart Motorway project on-site materials recycling hubs were used, and a series of measures, such as recycling rubble from the demolition of a bridge, a take back scheme for timber pallets, and re-use of furniture and IT, have been implemented.
The Friends of Benton Quarry Park, along with North Tyneside Council, have been working hard over the last 3 years to improve the park for the residents of Benton and the surrounding area.
Lionel Hehir, chair of Friends of Benton Quarry Park, said: “The Friends of Benton Quarry Park has been working with North Tyneside Council for over three years to improve the park’s land drainage and footpaths. But it has proved challenging to secure sufficient funds to progress the changes which the park urgently needs.
“The idea of re-using old road surfacing as the base for the footpaths has helped tackle this problem. It also provides a sustainable solution as the planings are being diverted from going to landfill while generating a substantial cost saving to the park.
“This is a true ‘win win’ project, and is a wonderful example of a small community group working in partnership with its local authority partner, Highways England and its contractors Sisk Lagan JV to deliver a major improvement to a local park which will benefit the whole of Benton.”
