Sustainable road design championed by WJ and BEAR Scotland
A collaborative approach between road marking experts, WJ Scotland, and BEAR Scotland has brought significant carbon savings of 1,778 tonnes across Scotland’s North East Trunk Road Network.
The partnership has seen BEAR Scotland use WJ’s award-winning high-performance road marking, Weatherline Plus, to enhance road safety across the north east of Scotland and align to Transport Scotland’s sustainability agenda.
Providing enhanced retroreflectivity – and therefore increased visibility for road users, especially in wet conditions due to the raised dotted profile – the marking offers superior skid resistance and great durability, with an expected five-year functional life. Weatherline Plus is manufactured using biogenic resin, rather than the commonly used hydrocarbon resin, helping to create significantly and verifiable carbon savings. This particularly aligns with Scotland’s world-leading climate change action plan, which has seen the country set a target to achieve net zero by 2045.
In total, the partnership has seen 827 tonnes of Weatherline Plus laid on roads stretching across Scotland. Notable examples include the A96 (Keith to Inverness), the A95 (Aviemore to Keith), and on the M90 from junction 6 to Broxden. The partnership, which extended into the South East in August 2020, equates to over 1,500 miles of road. Following the success of the North East road improvements, the partnership will continue as BEAR Scotland looks to increase work on similar activity in the other regions.
BEAR Scotland said: “Back in August 2020, we tasked WJ to provide an innovative upgrade to our road network. Not only did the product need to meet increasing road safety needs, but it also needed to be sustainable, meeting our own environmental commitments. We are extremely pleased with the carbon savings, as well as enhanced safety features on the roads, and look forward to seeing further improvements across the wider road network.”
BEAR Scotland manages and maintains many of the major trunk roads in Scotland on behalf of Transport Scotland, and has worked with WJ for more than five years across this network on a number of major road improvement projects.
Andy Walker, Commercial Director at WJ Group, said: “With COP26 taking place in Scotland, it’s important that the nation’s road improvement projects have sustainability front of mind. At WJ, our product carbon calculator enables us to show how our materials can deliver a significant saving on the embedded carbon within a scheme, as shown through this series of road enhancements.
“We are committed to innovation and ensuring that our clients have the best solutions for their projects. The results are clear for all to see, and we look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with BEAR Scotland.”
