Will the roads of tomorrow be paved with plastic?
VolkerWessels, a Dutch group of companies with 15,000 employees and about 120 companies and offices in the Netherlands, UK and America, has announced ambitious plans to create a novel road surface. The concept, suitably named "PlasticRoad", features numerous advantages compared to conventional roads, both in terms of construction and maintenance.
Plastic is much more sustainable and opens the door for a number of innovations such as power generation, quiet road surfaces, heated roads and modular construction. Additionally, the PlasticRoad design features a 'hollow' space that can be used for cables, pipes and rainwater (image below). The space could also form a key part of any future development towards V2X communication and intelligent traffic management.
The space underneath PlasticRoad's surface could be utilised for utilities, infrastructure or communications.
PlasticRoad's concept is in line with developments such as Cradle to Cradle and The Ocean Cleanup (click here to read more about TOC's incredible ambition: the initiative to free the seas of 'plastic soup'). Recycled plastic is made into prefabricated road parts that can be installed in one piece. The prefabricated production and the lightweight design also make the construction of a PlasticRoad into a much simpler task. Roads can be built in weeks instead of months. It is also much easier to control the quality of the road (stiffness, water drainage etc.).
PlasticRoad is a virtually maintenance free product. It is unaffected by corrosion and the weather. The road structure handles a temperature range of -40 to +80°C with ease, and offers increased resistance to chemical corrosion. Estimations predict that the lifespan of PlasticRoad will be around three times that of conventional ashphalt road surfaces - as high as fifty years. That means less road maintenance, fewer traffic jams and happier motorists.
A major advantage of PlasticRoad is the hollow structure that can simply be installed on a surface of sand. In addition to the options mentioned above, it is also possible to integrate other elements in the prefabrication phase. These elements include traffic loops sensors, measuring equipment, and connections for light poles.
PlasticRoad is concept at the moment, but VolkerWessels is reaching out to the plastics industry (especially recycling companies or plastic producers), as well as the wider automotive community for partners to help construct and test a prototype.
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