0UBLISHED0ROJECT2EPORT

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!UTHORITYHIGHWAYENGINEERS
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!(EWITT2'RIFFITHSAND%"ENDALL
UK Roads Liaison Group

Sustainable choice of materials for highway works

A guide for Local Authority highway engineers

by J M Reid, J W E Chandler, I Schiavi, A P Hewitt, R Griffiths and

E Bendall

PPR 233
PPRO 04/37/04

PUBLISHED PROJECT REPORT

TRL Limited

PUBLISHED PROJECT REPORT PPR 233

SUSTAINABLE CHOICE OF MATERIALS FOR HIGHWAY

WORKS
A GUIDE FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY HIGHWAY ENGINEERS

Version: Final

by J M Reid, J W E Chandler, I Schiavi, A P Hewitt, R Griffiths and E Bendall

(TRL Limited)

Prepared for: Project Record: PPRO 04/37/04 Sustainability in Construction

Layers and Materials
Client: Department for Transport, Local Transport
Strategy and Funding Division,
(Contract Manager: Edward Bunting)

Copyright Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO, June 2008

This report has been produced by TRL Limited as part of a contract for the
Department for Transport, Local Transport Strategy and Funding Division. Any views
expressed in it are not necessarily those of Department for Transport, Local
Transport Strategy and Funding Division.

Approvals

Project Manager

Quality Reviewed
This report has been produced by TRL Limited, under/as part of a Contract placed by
Department for Transport, Local Transport Strategy and Funding Division. Any views
expressed are not necessarily those of Department for Transport, Local Transport
Strategy and Funding Division.

TRL is committed to optimising energy efficiency, reducing waste and promoting

recycling and re-use. In support of these environmental goals, this report has been
printed on recycled paper, comprising 100% post-consumer waste, manufactured
using a TCF (totally chlorine free) process.
Contents
Glossary ...................................................................................................................... vi
Executive Summary .....................................................................................................1
1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................3
1.1 Scope of guidance and readership.....................................................................3
1.2 Sustainability and highway materials..................................................................3
1.3 Current practice ..................................................................................................9
2. Materials and Applications: Introduction ................................................................20
2.1 General comments ...........................................................................................20
3. Layers and Materials in a Pavement......................................................................21
3.1 Construction of the pavement...........................................................................21
3.2 Materials used for pavement construction........................................................22
4 Maintenance Techniques ........................................................................................34
4.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................34
4.2 Surface course .................................................................................................34
4.3 Deeper pavement repairs .................................................................................37
4.4 Earthworks........................................................................................................42
4.5 Streetworks.......................................................................................................44
5 Recycled highway materials....................................................................................47
5.1 Reuse and recycling .........................................................................................47
5.2 Waste Management Regulations and disposal of materials.............................48
6. Recycled and Secondary Materials........................................................................52
6.1 General comments ...........................................................................................52
6.2 Materials in HD 35 ............................................................................................59
6.2.1 Blast furnace slag ......................................................................................59
6.2.2 Burnt colliery spoil......................................................................................59
6.2.3 China clay sand/stent.................................................................................60
6.2.4 Coal fly ash (Pulverised-fuel ash) and furnace bottom ash .......................60
6.2.5 Foundry sand .............................................................................................61
6.2.6 Incinerator bottom ash aggregate ..............................................................61
6.2.7 Phosphoric slag .........................................................................................62
6.2.8 Recycled aggregate ...................................................................................63
6.2.9 Reclaimed asphalt .....................................................................................64
6.2.10 Recycled concrete aggregate ..................................................................65
6.2.11 Recycled glass.........................................................................................67
6.2.12 Slate aggregate........................................................................................68
6.2.13 Spent oil shale .........................................................................................69
6.2.14 Steel slag .................................................................................................69
6.2.15 Unburnt colliery spoil................................................................................70
6.3 Secondary and recycled materials not included in HD35 .................................73
6.3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................73
6.3.2 Construction and demolition waste fines (RA fines) ..................................73
6.3.3 Recycled concrete aggregate fines (RCA fines) ........................................73
6.3.4 Recycled tyres ...........................................................................................74
6.3.5 Recycled plastic .........................................................................................75
6.3.6 Ferro-silicate slag (zinc slag) .....................................................................76
6.3.7 Cement-kiln dust ........................................................................................77
6.3.8 Spent railway ballast ..................................................................................78
6.3.9 Quarry fines and surplus material ..............................................................79
7 Distribution and Availability of Aggregates in the UK ..............................................81
7.1 Regional availability of recycled and secondary aggregates ............................81
7.2 Primary aggregates ..........................................................................................89
7.2.1 Sand and gravel and crushed rock ............................................................89

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 7.2.2 Aggregates for specialist applications: high specification aggregates for
skid-resistant road surfacing ...............................................................................90
7.3 Detailed studies of materials available at local level ........................................91
8 Standards and Specifications..................................................................................94
8.1 General comments and quality control .............................................................94
8.2 Standards .........................................................................................................96
8.2.1 Standard specifications for aggregates......................................................96
8.2.2 Standard test methods for aggregates.......................................................99
8.2.3 Standard specifications for mixtures incorporating aggregates and test
methods for mixtures incorporating aggregates................................................100
8.3 Specifications .................................................................................................100
8.3.1 British Standards......................................................................................100
8.3.2 Specification for Highway Works .............................................................101
8.3.3 Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways ................103
8.3.4 TRL 611 – Cold recycling.........................................................................105
8.3.5 HD 39 Footway design.............................................................................106
8.4 Variations to specifications and design guidance...........................................106
9 Selecting Materials on the Basis of Environmental and Sustainability Factors.....112
9.1 General considerations...................................................................................112
9.2 Maximising the environmental contribution made by highway maintenance
materials ...............................................................................................................113
9.2.1 Noise........................................................................................................113
9.2.2 Materials utilisation ..................................................................................114
9.2.3 Waste management and recycling...........................................................115
9.2.4 Pollution control .......................................................................................116
9.3 Tools for deciding upon and demonstrating sustainability..............................118
9.3.1 SILVIA - Sustainable road surfaces for traffic noise control .................118
9.3.2 Site Waste Management Plans................................................................119
9.3.3 CO2 Estimator tool ...................................................................................121
9.3.4 Environmental Sustainability of Recycled and Secondary Aggregates
(ESRSA) Tool ...................................................................................................121
9.3.5 The Civil Engineering Environmental Quality and Assessment Scheme
(CEEQUAL) ......................................................................................................123
9.3.6 The big picture: specifying recycled in local authority contracts for
highways maintenance .....................................................................................126
9.3.7 Recycled roads: a step-by-step guide to local authority procurement .....126
9.4 Proposed Key Performance Indicators...........................................................126
9.5 Climate Change..............................................................................................127
9.5 Conclusions on environmental and sustainability factors ...............................129
10 Conclusions: how to build a sustainable road .....................................................131
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................136
References...............................................................................................................136
APPENDIX 1 Sustainability Key Performance Indicators ........................................145
A.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................145
A.2 How to use the KPIs effectively......................................................................145
A.3 Key Performance Indicators...........................................................................146
A.4 Further information on the Key Performance Indicators ................................148
A.5 Key Performance Indicators used by the construction industry .....................158
A.5.1 Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment ...................................158
A.5.2 The Construction Products Industry KPIs................................................159
A.5.3 The Highways Agency’s”motivating success” performance management
toolkit.................................................................................................................160
A.5.4 Proposed asphalt industry sustainability Key Performance Indicators ....161
A.5.5 Quarry Products Association Performance Indicators.............................161

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APPENDIX 2 Linking corporate objectives to highway maintenance practice:
Hampshire County Council ......................................................................................163
APPENDIX 3 Linking corporate objectives to highway maintenance practice: Durham
County Council.........................................................................................................165
A.3.1 Corporate objectives ...................................................................................165
A.3.2 A689 Sedgefield to Wynyard Improvement.................................................166
A.3.3 A167 Durham City Park and Ride ...............................................................170

List of Tables

Table 3.1 Recycled and Secondary Materials Permitted in HD35/04

Table 3.2 Permitted Constituents for General Fill in Series 600 Earthworks
Table 3.3 Permitted Constituents for Selected Fill in Series 600 Earthworks
Table 4.1 Recycling Processes Covered by the SHW
Table 5.1 Summary Table for Recycled Highway Materials
Table 5.2 Methods of Disposal of Materials Derived from the Pavement
Table 6.1 Summary Table for Recycled and Secondary Materials in HD35
Table 7.1 Limiting Values for HSA
Table 7.2 Estimates of Future Use of Recycled and Secondary Materials as
Aggregates in Hampshire
Table 8.1 Scope and Relevant Requirement Clauses for Aggregates
Table 8.2 Scope and Relevant Requirement Clauses for Fillers
Table 8.3 Functional Requirements for Pavement Layers
Table 9.1 Examples of Tests for Hazardous Content and Leachability
Table 9.2 Focus and Applicability of the Tools Reviewed
Table 9.3 Indicators used in the ESRSA Tool
Table 9.4 Climate change issues to be considered
Table A.1 CPI’s Environmental KPIs and CPIs
Table A.2 Selected Proposed KPIs for the Asphalt Industry
Table A.3 QPA Sustainability Performance Indicators
Table A.4 Hampshire County Council Corporate Objectives

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 How to Use the Guidance Document

Figure 1.2 The Waste Hierarchy
Figure 1.3 Specifications used for highway and street maintenance
Figure 1.4 Use of Recycled and Secondary Aggregates in Highway Maintenance
Applications as Reported by Delegates to Recycled Roads Workshops
in 2006
Figure 1.5 Framework from Recycled Roads Guide to Local Authority
Procurement
Figure 3.1 Pavement Layers for Various Types of Construction
Figure 3.2 A Typical Evolved Road: Nine Mile Ride, Crowthorne
Figure 3.3 The Process of Stabilising Class U1 Material for Capping (from
HA74/07)
Figure 3.4 Variation of CBR of a Silty Sand with Moisture Content
Figure 4.1 High Friction Surfacing at Approach to Roundabout
Figure 4.2 Typical Arisings from Utility Excavations
Figure 7.1 Total Production of Recycled Aggregates and Soil (million tonnes),
England and Wales
Figure 7.2 Total Production of Recycled Aggregates and Soil (million tonnes),
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England
Figure 7.3 Total Production of PFA, FBA and IBA (million tonnes) in the UK

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Figure 7.4 Total Production of Colliery Spoil, Slate and China Clay Sand (million
tonnes) in the UK
Figure 7.5 Total Production of Slag (million tonnes) in the UK
Figure 7.6 Total Production of Railway Ballast, Waste Glass and Tyres (million
tonnes) in England and Wales
Figure 7.7 Total Production of Railway Ballast, Waste Glass and Tyres (million
tonnes) in Scotland and Northern England
Figure 9.1 Sample of the Output Sheet from SilVia’s Cost Benefit Analysis Toolkit
Figure 9.2 Sustainability Assessment of Aggregates Supply using ESRSA Tool
Figure 9.3 Sample of a CEEQUAL Question
Figure 9.4 Decision Support Matrix for Sustainable Selection of Materials for
Highways Works
Figure A.1 Including Environmental Issues in the Procurement Process

List of Boxes

Box 1.1 Corporate Objectives

Box 1.2 Hampshire County Council
Box 1.3 Surrey County Council
Box 1.4 Reconstruction of A6116 Rockingham Road in Corby
Box 1.5 Peterborough City Council
Box 1.6 Quality Assurance of Materials
Box 1.7 Dundee City Council
Box 1.8 Nottinghamshire County Council
Box 1.9 TRL Research Project Sponsored by HA Looking at the Feasibility of
Recycling Thin Surfacing back into Thin Surfacing
Box 1.10 Hampshire County Council Partners in Innovation (PII) Demonstration
Project 3 Recycled Surface Dressing Chippings
Box 1.11 Durham City Council
Box 1.12 Partnering: Staffordshire Highways
Box 1.13 Councils Increasing the Recycling of C&D Waste in back into
Construction
Box 1.14 West Lothian Recycling
Box 3.1 Use of Granular Material Stabilised with Fly Ash (GFA) by
Staffordshire County Council
Box 3.2 California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Pavement Design
Box 3.3 Trial using Cold Bituminous Bound Material in Footways in Hampshire
Box 4.1 Use of Recycling Techniques in Haunching Works by Staffordshire
Highways
Box 4.2 Use of Reclaimed Asphalt in the A34 Chieveley/M4 Junction 13
Improvement
Box 4.3 Recycling and Reclaimed Asphalt Use by Tayside Contracts
Box 4.4 Cold Recycling ex-situ and in-situ in the London Borough of Merton
Box 4.5 Cold Recycled Asphalt in Footway Repairs for Edinburgh City Council
Box 4.6 Stabilisation of a Weak Clay Embankment in Hampshire
Box 4.7 Soil Stabilisation in the North Popley Development, Basingstoke
Box 4.8 Severn Trent Network’s Closed Loop Recycling Experience in the
West Midlands
Box 5.1 Ex-situ Stabilisation of Asphalt Containing Tar using Foamed Bitumen
Box 6.1 Applications of Foundry Sand in Highways
Box 6.2 Use of IBAA in Highways
Box 6.3 Use of Phosphoric Slag in Highways in Kent
Box 6.4 Examples of use of Recycled Asphalt in Highways
Box 6.5 Examples of the use of RCA in Highways
Box 6.6 Use of Recycled Glass as Bedding Sand in London

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Box 6.7 Use of Recycled Glass in Asphalt
Box 6.8 Use of Slate Aggregate as Unbound Sub-base on the A55 Bangor
Bypass
Box 6.9 Use of Spent Oil Shale in the M8/M9 Newbridge Interchange
Box 6.10 Use of Basic Oxygen Steel Slag (BOS) as a Surface Course
Aggregate in the North East of England
Box 6.11 Use of Colliery Spoil in A63 Selby Bypass
Box 6.12 Use of Tyre Bails in a Minor Road over Peat, Northern Scotland
Box 6.13 Use of Zinc Slag in an Asphalt Trial Road, Avonmouth
Box 6.14 TRL Research Project on use of CKD as Filler in Asphalt
Box 6.15 Use of Sandstone Quarry Sand in South Wales
Box 8.1 Source Approval Scheme in Teeside
Box 8.2 Variation of Specification to Enable Use of Recycled and Secondary
Aggregates by Devon County Council
Box 8.3 Aberdeenshire County Council
Box 8.4 TRL Reports dealing with Recycling
Box 9.1 Adopting Leaner Specifications
Box 9.2 Using Recycled Plastics in Street Furniture and Landscaping
Box 9.3 Rehabilitation of the A6116 Rockingham Road
Box 9.4 Sustainable Supply of Aggregates to a Road Construction Site in the
West Midlands
Box 10.1 Implementing Recycling in Gloucestershire County Council’s Highway
Maintenance Works
Box 10.2 Material Data Sheets used by Hampshire County Council
Box A.1 Hampshire County Council Sustainability Objectives for Highway
Maintenance

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Glossary
Aalborg commitments: The 50 Aalborg Commitments were launched in 2004, with
the aim of helping all local authorities across Europe measure and improve their
sustainability performance. The Commitments are split under the following 10 themes:
1. Governance
2. Local management towards sustainability
3. Natural common goods (including energy, water, soils, air, biodiversity)
4. Responsible consumption and lifestyle choices
5. Planning and design
6. Better mobility, less traffic
7. Local action for health
8. Vibrant and sustainable local economy
9. Social equity and justice
10. Local to global (including climate change)
Further information is available from http://www.aalborgplus10.dk/
Source: Hampshire County Council and Aalborg + 10

AggRegain: AggRegain is a free Sustainable Aggregates information service

provided by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Aggregates
Programme with the aim of increasing the use of recycled and secondary aggregates
and the sustainable use of all aggregates. The information service consists of a
website (www.aggregain.org.uk) and a supporting free telephone helpline - 0808 100
2040. The website was launched in February 2003 and further expanded in 2005
and 2006. Through eight different modules, a specification guidance service and a
case studies database and search engines, it provides producers, specifiers, buyers
and suppliers with a reliable, independent 'one-stop' source of information on which
to base procurement and production decisions.
Source: AggRegain

Aggregate levy: the environmental tax on the commercial exploitation of aggregate

in the United Kingdom. introduced in April 2002, it addresses the environmental costs
associated with quarrying that are not already covered by regulation, including noise,
dust, visual intrusion, loss of amenity and damage to biodiversity. The levy aims to
bring about environmental benefits by making the price of aggregates better reflect
these costs and encouraging the use of alternative materials such as recycled
materials and certain waste products. The levy is still set at its original level of £1.60
per tonne.
Source: HM revenue and Customs

Argillaceous rock: Denoting a clastic sedimentary deposit or rock in which the

constituent fragments are of silt or clay grade in size. This includes particles smaller
than 1/16 mm in diameter. These consist of finely ground rock as well as the various
clay minerals that have been produced in the course of weathering of the parent rock.
Siltstones and mudstones are rocks formed of sediment in this size range.
Source: A Dictionary of Earth Sciences, Pan Books, London, 1978.

Carcinogenic: substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or

if they penetrate the skin, may induce cancer or increase its incidence.
Source: Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 894, The Hazardous Waste (England and
Wales) Regulations 2005

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Duty of care: Under the Duty of Care the producer of waste has the following
responsibilities:
1. To ensure that all waste produced is handled, recovered and disposed of
responsibly.
2. To ensure that only authorised businesses and individuals deal with the waste.
3. To keep a record of all waste received or transferred using the system of
Waste Transfer Notes.
More information is available from
http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/275207/275430/?version=1&lang=_e
Source: NetRegs

Egan review: published in 2004, the Review looked at the skills and training required
by professionals, planning authorities and developers and how they can work
together in achieving measurable improvements to the communities they serve. It
also considered how any skills gap can best be bridged. The review contained a
number of recommendations for central and local government to improve planning
mechanisms, supply chain relations and delivery of the infrastructure needed for
achieving sustainable communities.
More information is available from
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/eganreview
Source: DCLG

Environmental Protection Act (1990 and amendments): This Act provides the
basis for licensing controls and other provisions aimed at ensuring that waste
handling, disposal and recovery options do not harm the environment. It also states
that responsibility for waste rests on all parties involved in its management; from the
original producer to everybody who handles it up until its full recovery or disposal. To
this end it introduced the 'Duty of Care'. The Waste Management (England and
Wales) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006 No. 937) introduce the latest amendments to the
Act, including an extension of the definition of industrial waste to include agricultural
and mining and quarrying waste, which therefore become controlled wastes.
Source: AggRegain

European Waste Catalogue: Schedule 1 of the List of Wastes (England)

Regulations 2005 is the current version of the European Waste Catalogue. Each type
of waste is defined by a six digit number, with all wastes grouped into one of 20
broad categories, defined by the first two digits. More detail on the nature and origin
of the waste is given by the remaining four digits. All wastes which are hazardous
wastes are marked by an asterisk in the List of Wastes.
Source: HA EnvIS Material Resource Management: Inventory

Exemption from WMLR: Exemptions from waste management regulations are

mainly for small-scale waste storage, recycling and recovery operations. There is an
overriding requirement that in order for an activity to be exempt, it must be carried out:
a) without endangering human health or harming the environment;
b) without risk to water, air, soil plants or animals;
c) without causing nuisance through noise or odours, and
d) without adversely affecting the countryside or places of special interest.
In addition, each exemption specifies the type and quantity of wastes, methods of
recovery, time limits for storage and pollution control measures.
To register an exempt activity there is a need to provide the Environmental Regulator
with information regarding the activity, who is carrying it out and the site address.
For a comprehensive list of conditions which apply consult the Waste Management
Licensing Regulations 1994 Schedule 3 as amended.
Source: AggRegain

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Factory Production Control: A control system to monitor production so that the
product characteristics are achieved and maintained consistently - required by the
Construction Products Directive as amended. For aggregates, it is prescribed in the
relevant BS EN Standards for aggregates.
Source: AggRegain

Hazardous waste: Article 1(4) of the Hazardous Waste Directive (HWD) defines
hazardous waste as wastes featuring on the list of hazardous wastes in the
European Waste Catalogue 2002, because they possess one or more of the 14
hazardous properties set out in Annex III of the HWD. The HWD is implemented in
the UK through the Hazardous Waste Regulations. The Environment Agency has
published Technical Guidance WM2 to clarify how to identify hazardous waste.
Source: AggRegain

Inert waste: Waste is considered inert if:

1. It does not undergo any significant physical, chemical or biological
transformations;
2. It does not dissolve, burn or otherwise physically or chemically react,
biodegrade or adversely affect other matter with which it comes into contact in
a way likely to give rise to environmental pollution or harm to human health;
and
3. Its total leachability and pollutant content and the ecotoxicity of its leachate
are insignificant and, in particular, do not endanger the quality of any surface
water or groundwater."
Source: The Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002

Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development: The World Summit

on Sustainable Development (WSSD) took place in Johannesburg from 26 August to
4 September 2002 with 183 countries taking part and committing to implementing
sustainable development actions. There were 3 formal outcomes from the Summit: a
Political Declaration, a detailed plan of implementation (PDF), and a number of Type
2 Multi-stakeholder partnerships. More information on the UK activities can be found
at http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/international/wssd/index.htm.
Source: Defra’s Sustainable Development Unit

Key Performance Indicators: (KPIs): Indicators used to define and measure

progress toward defined priority and key success factors of a project or system. KPIs
can also be used as a performance management and improvement tool by providing
focus on project goals. Monitoring KPIs enables management to spot and correct
weaknesses.
Source: AggRegain

Landfill tax: Tax on the disposal of waste at landfills. It has been introduced to
encourage waste producers to produce less waste and recover more value from
waste. There are two rates of landfill tax depending on the type of waste.
The low rate of £2 per tonne applies to those inactive (or inert) wastes listed in
Schedule 2 of the Landfill Tax (Qualifying Material) Order 1996. Increases in the low
rate have not been considered yet.
A standard rate applies to all other taxable wastes. From April 2006 the standard
landfill tax rate is £21 per tonne. The Government has stated that the standard rate
would continue to increase by at least £3 per tonne in future years, on the way to a
medium to long term rate of £35 per tonne.
Source: AggRegain

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Leachates: liquid, percolating through waste deposits, which can include various
minerals, organic matter or other contaminants and can contaminate surface water or
ground water.
Source: Environment Agency

Non-hazardous waste: Waste that is active, meaning that it will decompose or

otherwise change. Chemically active, combustible, biodegradable or polluting waste.
Source: Waste Aware Scotland

Open book accounting: way of providing transparent accounting methods that

allows providers to describe their expenditure whilst enabling commissioners to
understand all aspects of service delivery and forward investment. At the point of
tender, commissioners should establish the principals of Open Book Accounting that
they wish to use and these should be communicated to potential providers. Providers
would provide detailed costing in line with the agreed model including management,
staff and administrative and regulatory costs as well as proposed investment in
training, service development and quality promotion etc. They would also
demonstrate their assumed margins and show why this was necessary; for instance
for longer-term investment or as a hedge against risk.
More information from
http://www.ogc.gov.uk//documents/cp0078_Effective_partnering.pdf
Source: DOH’s Health and Social Care Change Agent Team (CAT)

PAH: Acronym for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. PAHs are a group of

hydrocarbon compounds with a structure in which 2–6 or more carbon rings are
fused together. In practice, these compounds always occur together as a mixture of
many components. They occur naturally in some hydrocarbon mixtures deriving from
minerals, such as coal or petroleum, and they can also be generated in processes
involving the combustion of any organic matter, including fuels. Many are
carcinogens.
Source: HSE

Phenols: Organic aromatic compound which occurs naturally (during the

decomposition of organic materials, and as a constituent of coal tar). Its presence in
the environment is however primarily the consequence of human activities. The most
important source of diffuse phenol emissions results from the use of phenolic resins
as binding materials in insulation products, chipboard, paints, and casting sand
moulds (used by metal foundries). Phenol is highly mobile in the soil environment,
particularly through leaching into ground and surface water. Many phenols are toxic.
Source: EA

Public Procurement Directive: European Directive that since January 2006

regulates local government public procurement in the EU. This new Directive
simplifies and consolidates three former Directives on public works, supplies and
services into a single text. It intends to reduce red tape and to set out social and
environmental criteria that can be applied in awarding contracts.
More information at
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/legislation_en.htm.
Source: European Commission

Quality control: Quality control is the formal assessment of products or materials for
to ensure that they conform to the customer’s or standard requirements.
Source: AggRegain

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Quality management: process of continual improvement to meet both customer
needs and the applicable regulatory requirements.
More information can be found at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/quality/introduction_to_the_quality_management_syste
m/index.html
Source: BSI

Recycled Roads: WRAP guidance document and series of workshops on local

authority procurement which present a model approach to ensure that recycling and
reuse of road materials is embedded in all highways contracts and schemes. The
guidance is aimed at senior officers, highways budget-holders, procurement officers
and highways engineers – plus their consultants and contractors. The guidance
covers the procurement process, key approaches for specifying recycled content,
and in-depth case studies.
More information at http://www.aggregain.org.uk/recycled_roads.html
Source: AggRegain

Rio Earth Summit: held in Rio de Janeiro from the 3-14 June 1992, the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or Earth Summit
resulted in the publication of the Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development, the Statement of Forest Principles, the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention on Biological
Diversity.
More information from http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.html
Source: United Nations

SMART waste: suite of tools and consultancy services for measuring and auditing
waste produced during construction and demolition, designed by BRE.
More information at http://www.smartwaste.co.uk/
Source: BRE

SSSIs: Acronym for Sites of Special Scientific Interest. They are sites protected
under national legislation due to flora and fauna of special scientific interest.
Source: AggRegain

Sustainability: Sustainability can be defined as development that meets the needs

of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their needs. Sustainability is based upon three components: economic growth,
social progress and environmental protection.
Source: AggRegain

Third party certification: Where a management system is audited by an

organisation independent from the assessed organisation. This can provide
additional reassurance to a client where the certification body meets national,
European or international standards.
Source: AggRegain

Waste disposal: Discarding of waste by a number of operations as listed in Annex II

of the Waste Framework Directive, including landfill, incineration, pyrolysis etc.
More information at http://waste.eionet.europa.eu/definitions/disposal
Source: AggRegain

Whole Life Cost: The whole-life cost of a facility (often referred to as through-life
costs) comprises the costs of acquiring it (including consultancy, design and
construction costs, and equipment), the costs of operating it, and the costs of

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maintaining it over its whole life through to its disposal - that is, the total ownership
costs. These costs include internal resources and departmental overheads, where
relevant; that also include risk allowance as required, flexibility (predicted alterations
for know change in business requirements, for example), refurbishment costs, and
costs relating to sustainability and health and safety aspects.
Source: OGC

WRAP: Acronym for the Waste and Resources Action programme. WRAP is a not for
profit company created in 2000 as part of the Government's waste strategies across
the United Kingdom. WRAP is aiming to make a major contribution to the achievemnt
of the Landfill Directive targets and to Government’s broader environmental
objectives, inclduing the reduction of carbon emissions to help tackle climate change.
More information at www.wrap.org.uk
Source: WRAP

Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994: These regulations and

amendments set out the procedure for obtaining a waste management licence. They
also identify a number of activities which are excluded from requiring a licence or that
are exempt from licensing.
More information at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/waste_management_regulations/background/wml_regul
ations.html
Source: AggRegain

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Executive Summary
Over the past ten years there has been an increasing appreciation of the importance
of sustainability, for instance in government policy documents such as “A better
quality of life” (DETR, 1999) and “Securing the future” (DEFRA, 2005). This has
required Local Authorities to review their operations and look for ways to make them
more sustainable. The maintenance and construction of highways is an area that
presents many opportunities for increased sustainability, by the use of materials and
methods that minimise the impact of these activities on the environment. Many Local
Authorities have been quick to adopt more sustainable practices in this area, and
there are many publicly available case studies that illustrate the materials and
methods that can be used. However, this information is scattered among a variety of
sources, and there is a need for a document that brings all this material together into
guidance that is clear and relevant for Local Authority highway engineers.

This document provides a detailed description of how to make sustainable choices in

the selection of materials and methods for Local Authority highway works, including
maintenance and new construction. It is designed to support “Sustainable Highways”
(Reid et al., 2008), the summary guidance that constitutes a daughter document to
“Well-maintained Highways” (Department for Transport, 2005a). This reference
document offers detailed practical guidance for Local Authority highway engineers,
their contractors, designers and suppliers on how to choose materials and methods
of work for highways taking into account sustainability and environmental factors.
The main focus of this document is on maintenance activities for road pavements
and footways. However, the advice is equally applicable to new construction.

The document is intended to be applicable throughout the United Kingdom. Case

studies are given throughout the document to illustrate specific materials, methods or
issues.

The choice of materials and methods falls under the wider issue of sustainability, and
greater progress can be made when it is approached within an overall strategy for
sustainability within a Local Authority. Examples of how various Local Authorities
have made the link between corporate objectives on sustainability and highway
maintenance activities are given. The support of senior officers and elected members,
and liaison with other departments within the Local Authority is critical for success, as
is involvement of the supply chain.

Local Authorities are responsible for a very wide range of roads, from heavily
trafficked principal roads to very lightly trafficked rural lanes and suburban housing
estate roads. While the busiest roads and most new roads built in the last thirty years
are likely to have been designed and built to high standards, many of the older roads
will have evolved over the years through the addition of successive layers of asphalt.
These roads pose a challenge to the highway engineer when maintenance works are
required.

The various layers that make up a typical pavement are described, together with the
recycled and secondary materials that are generally permitted in them under current
specifications. The main methods of maintenance are then described, concentrating
on techniques for the surface course where most repairs are carried out.
Opportunities for recycling are highlighted.

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1
In sustainability terms, the first priority should be to maximise the recycling of the
arisings from highway and footway maintenance works. The opportunities for reuse
and recycling of these materials are described. Where it is not possible to recycle
these materials, they have to be disposed of. The implications of this for various
materials are discussed, with particular mention of the occurrence of coal tar, a
hazardous waste, in some old pavements.

After the reuse of arisings, the next priority is the use of recycled or secondary
aggregates in place of primary aggregates where this is economic and
environmentally sustainable. Generally this will be where transport distances are less
than for equivalent primary aggregates. A number of recycled and secondary
aggregates are potentially available for use in highways and footways. Their
properties and availability are described.

The key issue of standards, specifications and design guides is then addressed. The
importance of using appropriate specifications is stressed; over-specification by use
of the Specification for Highway Works for minor roads can prevent the use of locally
available materials that might be perfectly suitable for the application. The
Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways/Roads encourages the
use of recycled and secondary materials and innovative techniques, but requires the
approval of the Local Authority for their use. Local Authorities thus need to take a
positive approach when the use of these materials and techniques is proposed. The
importance of quality control for all materials and processes is stressed.

Applying environmental considerations to the choice of materials and methods is

described, and a number of models are presented that enable designers and
planners to make decisions based on evidence of the environmental impact of
various options for highway maintenance and construction. One model that may be
particularly useful is the CO2 emissions estimator that is available on the AggRegain
web site. Transport distances are usually critical in the overall CO2 emissions of
construction works. It is not sustainable to transport recycled or secondary
aggregates long distances if suitable primary aggregates are available close to the
works. A decision support process map is presented to enable relevant factors to be
taken into account when deciding on the choice of materials and methods.

A number of possible Key Performance Indicators for recycling in highway

maintenance works are presented. Local Authorities should use those which are
most relevant to their particular situation and most in line with those already being
used by their suppliers and contractors.

Finally, a series of suggestions are made for how to construct a sustainable road,
within the overall context of a sustainability policy for a Local Authority. Examples of
Local Authorities who have developed links from corporate objectives to highway
maintenance are given in Appendices.

The maintenance and construction of highways present many opportunities for

increasing sustainability compared to conventional methods of working. The
objectives of this document and the associated short guidance (Reid et al., 2008) are
to improve understanding among highway engineers of the effects on the
environment and implications for sustainability of their choices of carriageway and
footway materials and to provide best practice guidance on the application of
sustainability to highway construction and maintenance.

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1 Introduction

1.1 Scope of guidance and readership

This document provides a detailed description of how to make sustainable choices in
the selection of materials and methods for Local Authority highway works, including
maintenance and new construction. It is designed to support “Sustainable Highways”
(Reid et al., 2008), the summary guidance that constitutes a daughter document to
“Well-maintained Highways” (Department for Transport, 2005a). This reference
document offers detailed practical guidance for Local Authority highway engineers,
their contractors, designers and suppliers on how to choose materials and methods
of work for highways taking into account sustainability and environmental factors.
The main focus of this document is on maintenance activities for road pavements
and footways. However, the advice is equally applicable to new construction.

This document is intended to be applicable throughout the United Kingdom.

Guidance on how to use the document is given on Figure 1.1.

1.2 Sustainability and highway materials

The need and desire for change to the methods and materials used in construction
and maintenance has accelerated in the last 20 years. The major instigator was the
Rio Earth Summit in 1992 that brought sustainable development to the forefront of
government policy in most developed countries. In 2002, the United Nations’ World
Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg with the aim of
focussing the world's attention again and directing action toward meeting difficult
challenges, including improving people's lives and conserving our natural resources
in a world that is growing in population, with ever-increasing demands for food, water,
shelter, sanitation, energy, health services and economic security. Sustainable
development was defined as long ago as 1987 as “development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs” (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).

In the UK, the Government definition of sustainable development was developed as

“…a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come” with four key
elements [DETR, 1999]:
• Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;
• Effective protection of the environment;
• Prudent use of natural resources; and
• Maintenance of high and stable levels of growth and employment.

As an industry, Highway Engineers know that the amount of recycling and use of
alternative materials in construction must be increased in order to lead to sustainable
development. Taking these actions reduces the demand for primary aggregates and
the associated transport and environmental disturbances [Reid and Chandler, 2001].
Sustainable construction requires the minimisation of waste, the efficient use of
materials and the recycling of waste.

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 Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 10 to set the
scene and understand w hy it is important to make
sustainable choices

Consider proposed scheme:

Which maintenance technique should I use? Read

Chapter 4

Do I need to dispose of any of the existing

material? Read Chapter 5 (section 5.2) w aste
management

What materials do I need for my scheme and can I

reuse any ? Read Chapters 2, 3, 5 (Section
5.1) and 6.

If I can't reuse any existing materials, can I use

any local materials? Read Chapter 7

What specifications and other information should I

be aw are of? Read Chapter 8

Could I improve the sustainability of this scheme

and lessen its environmental impact? Have I
compiled a list of KPIs to help improve the
sustainability of this scheme? Read Chapter 9
and Appendix 1

Do I need examples of w hat other local authorities

have done? Read the Boxes and Appendices
2 and 3

Figure 1.1 How to Use the Guidance Document

The UK sustainable development strategy is described in Securing the Future

(DEFRA, 2005), and includes priority areas for:
• Sustainable consumption and production;
• Climate change and energy;
• Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement;
• Sustainable communities.

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The choice of materials for highway maintenance clearly falls within these priority
areas.

Local Authority Engineers and their partners are crucial to achieving sustainability in
highway maintenance and construction by making informed choices about the
materials that they use and the techniques that they employ. Sustainability in
highway maintenance and construction means living within our environmental limits
whilst achieving a sustainable economy.

An example of achieving sustainability in construction and maintenance within a

Local Authority could involve linking functions such as minerals and waste,
procurement and highways in order to create a market demand for products such as
recycled and secondary aggregates (Reid et al, 2006).

The majority of Local Authorities (LAs) now have some reference to sustainability in
their corporate strategic objectives. In order for these objectives to be achieved, there
needs to be a link between them and what actually happens on the ground. This
requires a clear lead from the top and the establishment of policies that translate
these objectives into action. It may also require a major change in the culture and
attitude of the council staff and those of the organisations that work for them (Reid et
al, 2006). It is vital that these objectives are fed down and incorporated into the aims
of all departments in order for there to be a common approach across the
organisation. Examples are given in several of the boxes in this chapter and in
Appendices 2 and 3.

Box 1.1 Corporate Objectives

Cardiff City Council’s Local Sustainability Strategy: states that ways to
integrate sustainability into the design of new developments, buildings and the
regeneration of existing Council properties should be considered.
http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2870%2C3148&parent_directory_id=2
865

Glasgow City Council’s Draft City Plan: states that sustainability should be
promoted through design and construction and energy efficiency and by helping
reduce the need to travel and increase use of sustainable modes for those trips
which are undertaken. www.glasgow.gov.uk

Stirling Council’s Road Management Plan: states that one of the key aims is to
support and enable future quality sustainable development and transport. To
obtain a copy of the Plan please contact the Council directly.

Sustainability is a far-reaching concept that encompasses far more than recycling. It

includes the management and conservation of natural resources such as aggregates,
water and fossil fuels with a view to preserving what we have so that these assets
are available to future generations.

In order to encompass the wider picture of sustainability, taking account of all

resources, it is essential that the whole life costs of any maintenance or new
construction are assessed. This means evaluating the future costs, such as
resurfacing, joint sealing or road user delay, as well as the expected initial
construction costs. In addition to this, the use of recycled materials in a scheme
should always be costed as an option so that alternative designs can be compared
on a like-for-like basis.

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 Box 1.2 Hampshire County Council. As a community leader, Hampshire
County Council has demonstrated its strong commitment by voluntarily
signing up to the Aalborg Commitments in June 2004. These commitments
provide a framework for the County Council to look at environmental,
economic and social issues together. The Aalborg Commitments are
designed as a way for local authorities to achieve local action on
sustainability through a target-setting process. Hants CC are currently
assessing their performance against the 50 commitments, which are split
under the following 10 themes
1. Governance
2. Local management towards sustainability
3. Natural common goods (including energy, water, soils, air,
biodiversity)
4. Responsible consumption and lifestyle choices
5. Planning and design
6. Better mobility, less traffic
7. Local action for health
8. Vibrant and sustainable local economy
9. Social equity and justice
10. Local to global (including climate change)

“The Waste Strategy 2000” (DEFRA, 2000) establishes the waste hierarchy (Figure
1.2) to promote recycling and reuse at the highest level possible leading to
sustainable waste
• Reduce the levels of waste produced;
• Reuse products wherever possible;
• Recycle what cannot be reused;
• Recover energy from waste that cannot be reused or recycled.

Landfill disposal should only be considered as a last resort and then only if it best
option for the particular waste material involved. Equally it is important that recycled
materials are reused in the highest value situation possible. For example, all too
often, recycled aggregates are used in low value applications such as capping or sub
base when actually, with a little more effort, they can be used in high value
applications such as road base or road surfacing (Carswell et al., 2005).

The highways construction and maintenance section of a Local Authority will,

inevitably, include engineers who are members of professional institutions such as
the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Institution of Highways and
Transportation (IHT). These organisations publish sustainability charters which
members need to be aware of as part of their professional development and
incorporate these principles into their work.

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 Reduce – Minimise Waste

Reuse Waste (Unprocessed)

Recycle Waste (Processed)

- Based on industry
Recover practice and developed
(Ind BP&W) processes
- Environmental and (to
some extent) economic
Replace – priorities
“Dig &
Dump”

Figure 1.2 The Waste Hierarchy

The Egan review (ODPM, 2004) set out to look at the skills that are needed to deliver
sustainable communities and the part that the construction industry plays in this task.
It proposed that all parts of the supply chain, for example Local Authorities,
aggregate suppliers and waste management companies, should work together, or
form partnerships, in order to develop or improve products and techniques, minimise
waste and innovate and learn from experience. This is very demanding as there has
to be recognition of interdependence between clients and contractors, an open
relationship and an ongoing commitment to improvement. The opportunities that this
route creates for achieving sustainability in construction are many and it is up to
Local Authorities to pursue and enhance these relationships with the companies that
they currently work with.

Box 1.3 Surrey County Council (WRAP, 2004a)

In 2003, Surrey County Council developed a bespoke partnering
contract. The contract was awarded on both quality and price (50/50).
The contract requires all parties to work towards the delivery of key
objectives – including the reduction or elimination of waste and
selection of the most cost-effective solutions. The process will be
driven by setting targets, which will include recycled content. The
partnering approach and open book accounting will enable
construction wastes to be stockpiled and redeployed between the
partners in the most effective way to achieve mutual benefit.

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 Box 1.4 Reconstruction of A6116 Rockingham Road in Corby

An example of maximising recycling in highway works is given by this

case study, which is available on the AggRegain web site at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/sustainable_1.html. The
A6116 is a major feeder road into Corby which required full
reconstruction after many years of heavy traffic loading. The design was
based upon sustainability principles in line with the Northamptonshire
County Council Cabinet Plan Priority of “recycle more-waste less”.

The design solution comprised a replacement structure of cold recycled

structural course beneath a partly recycled hot-mix asphalt surface
course. Over four thousand tonnes of material was removed from the
existing road and re-processed in a mobile plant adjacent to the works
using cold-mix technology. The re-engineered material was
manufactured using processed millings from the existing road blended
with pulverised fly ash, cement and foamed bitumen to create a
viscoelastic/hydraulic composite material. The remixed material was then
re-installed in the works to form a 100% recycled structural course.

The use of cold mix recycling reduced the carbon dioxide emissions by
127 tonnes compared with the use of hot mix asphalt. By carrying out
the processing adjacent to the site, over five hundred lorry journeys were
saved which would otherwise have been necessary if virgin material was
being used in the project. The hot mix surfacing material was also
unusual as it included 20% recycled material that was recovered as
milled material from elsewhere on the local road network. The project
achieved an impressive overall 83% reuse of components from the
existing highway asset in the re-engineered road. The recycled project
cost was approximately 25% less than a traditional solution to yield the
same outcome.

Details of CO2 savings associated with the project are given in Box 9.3.

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1.3 Current practice
In the past, many of the larger Local Authorities had developed their own
specifications which had been amended to permit the use of locally available
materials, which in some instances were recycled or secondary. The reduction in
resources experienced by many Authorities in recent years and the implications of
legislation, such as the Public Procurement Directive, has meant that nowadays
probably the most commonly used specifications are based on the Specification for
Highway Works (SHW), which is maintained jointly by the Highways Agency, Scottish
Executive, National Assembly for Wales and the Department for Regional
Development for Northern Ireland.

The majority of the advice and guidance for the use of recycled materials in highway
construction and maintenance is found in the Specification for Highway Works (SHW)
and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB). Both of these documents
are regularly updated by the Highways Agency (HA) so are up to date with new
developments and materials. Details of useful documents and websites are given
below. Current practice within most Local Authorities is to default to the SHW as this
is taken to be best practice and there are no other up-to-date comprehensive
specifications for highway works. The SHW is primarily aimed at the design,
construction and maintenance of trunk roads and motorways so adhering to this
regardless of the application means that Local Authorities may be over-specifying
materials and not be making the best use of locally available materials. The County
Surveyors Society (CSS) is currently developing a Local Authority Roads Guide to
avoid potential problems of over-specification using the DMRB and SHW.

Specification for Highway Works (SHW)

(www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/mchw/index.htm)
This document provides the engineering and technical details related to all aspects of
pavement construction and is complemented by the DMRB.

Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB)

(www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/index.htm)
This offers extensive guidance on all aspects of pavement construction from
earthworks to different surfacing types to different construction techniques such as
recycling which are detailed in HD35/04 (Vol. 7 Part1). There is an increasing trend
towards performance requirements as seen in recent updates to HD 25 (Foundations)
& HD26 (Pavement Design).

New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA): Specification for the
Reinstatement of Openings in Highways, 2nd edition, June 2002
Prepared by Highway Authorities and Utilities Committee (HAUC UK) this governs
how streetworks and reinstatements shall be carried out. For Scotland there is the
equivalent Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Roads, 2003. There is
also the Roads and Utilities Council (Scotland) (RAUC(S)) which aims to helping
various bodies and organisations co-ordinate and communicate activities involving
disruption to the road network around Scotland.

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WRAP Quality protocol for the production of aggregates from inert wastes
(WRAP 2004b).
This can be downloaded from www.aggregain.org.uk and enables a very wide range
of waste materials to be assessed for suitability for use in highway construction and
offers extensive guidance to Local Authority engineers on the procedure for
approving these materials. Similar Quality Protocols are available for Scotland and
Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales.

WRAP AggRegain web site (www.aggregain.org.uk): a one-stop shop for

information on recycled and secondary aggregates
In order to encourage the increased recycling of materials, the UK government
established the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in 2001. It aims
to help meet recycling and composting targets through identifying market
opportunities for various recyclates, and also identifying barriers to recycling,
infrastructure requirements and material flows. One of the first actions of the WRAP
Aggregates Programme was to set up a dedicated web site, AggRegain
(www.aggregain.org.uk) to act as a ‘one-stop shop’ for information on recycled and
secondary aggregates. It now contains the following features:
• The Opportunities tool, which helps users identify the opportunities and
potential to use recycled and secondary aggregates (RSA). It assists
designers, specifiers, contractors and local authorities to identify where RSA
can be used in construction projects, it also helps those who have limited
knowledge of RSA or have previously been cautious to use RSA due to
perceived barriers and limitations.
• The Specifier tool, which allows users to establish how RSA can be used in a
range of construction applications under existing specifications.
• A supplier directory.
• A number of case studies demonstrating the use of RSA in a range of
construction applications and demonstrating both cost benefits and
comparative performance compared to primary aggregates.
• Access to the WRAP quality protocol and a number of other WRAP
publications on recycled and secondary aggregates.
• Modules on planning, recycling infrastructure, quality, Waste Management
Regulations, demolition, procurement and sustainability related to RSA.

The AggRegain web site is a very valuable resource for Local Authority highway
engineers considering recycling. Many of the case studies presented in this report
are available on AggRegain, and the opportunities tool can be used to identify
applications where recycled and secondary aggregates can be used in highway and
footway applications. The various modules contain information on a range of topics
that will be important to highway professionals proposing to use recycling techniques
or recycled and secondary aggregates. For specific queries, a free phone helpline is
available on 0808 100 2040.

The specifications and standards relating to highway maintenance and construction

are discussed in more detail in Chapter 8. A survey of the specifications used by
Local Authority highway engineers, contractors, suppliers and designers undertaken
for the WRAP Recycled Roads workshops in 2006 (Moulinier et al, 2006) is shown
on Figure 1.3. Most organisations used more than one method of specification. The
Specification for Highway Works was the most widely used specification for highway
and street maintenance, used by 76% of those surveyed. Local variations to the
SHW, the HAUC Specification and Local Authority Adoption Specifications were also
widely used, with over 40% of delegates using each of them. The HAUC

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Specification was particularly used by delegates at the London event (69%) and
Local Authority Adoption Specifications by delegates at the Glasgow event (67%),
but otherwise there was little regional variation.

90

80

70

60

50
(%)

40

30

20

10

0
Specification for SHW with local HAUC TRL 386/611 Local Authority Other
highway works variations Specification adoption
specifications
Specification

Figure 1.3 Specifications used for Highway and Street Maintenance

Additional information can be found on the internet which provides an extensive

database of information on sustainability and recycling in highway construction and
maintenance. The AggRegain website operated by the Waste and Resources Action
Programme (WRAP) provides many useful case studies highlighting how recycled
and secondary materials can be used in various applications including Local
Authority highway construction and maintenance applications. The AggRegain
website www.aggregain.org.uk offers technical notes on specification requirements
for recycled and secondary aggregates and a number of modules dealing with
aspects such as quality and the waste management regulations in relation to
recycled aggregates. It also contains a supplier directory so that you can find out
what materials are available in a specific area of the UK. In addition to this, copies of
The Big Picture (WRAP, 2004a) and Recycled Roads (WRAP, 2005b) can be
downloaded from the AggRegain website.

CIRIA maintains an internet based registry of recycling sites www.ciria.org/recycling

which is organised on a regional basis and includes sections for those wishing to buy
or sell recycled materials. The website BREMAP www.bremap.co.uk is part of the
BRE SMART Waste system and is of interest to anyone wishing to minimise the
waste that they produce during construction.

The document “Well Maintained Highways” (Department for Transport, 2005)

contains extensive guidance on all the activities and obligations that a Local Authority
should be carrying out and fulfilling. It highlights the importance of best value in
highway maintenance and aims to encourage coordination, consistency and the
sharing of best practice in the delivery of Local Authority highway maintenance. This
document is available at www.roadscodes.org.

As has already been mentioned, recycled materials are currently most often used in
relatively low-value applications such as sub base. This is illustrated in Figure 1.4

TRL PPR233
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which shows the results from a questionnaire of delegates attending the Recycled
Roads workshops in highway and street maintenance organised by WRAP (Moulinier
et al, 2006). Use as capping and sub-base, in footways and cycleways and the base
and binder course of bituminous pavements were the most common applications,
used by over 50% of delegates. Over 40% used recycled and secondary aggregates
in earthworks, and over 25% in the surface course of bituminous pavements. There
was very little use in concrete pavements or structural concrete. The figures cover
events throughout England and Scotland and do not show large variations between
events in different regions. The report on the Recycled Roads events is available at
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/AGG0092_Final_Report_27June1.50d14127.pdf.

Earthworks

Haunching

Bituminous pavements-base and binder course

Concrete pavements

Footways/cycleways

Capping/ sub-base

Surface dressing and slurry surfacing

Bituminous pavements-surface course

Structural concrete

Other

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
(%)

Figure 1.4 Uses of Recycled and Secondary Aggregates in Highway

Maintenance Applications as Reported by Delegates to Recycled Roads
Workshops in 2006

However, increasing awareness of the waste hierarchy and the importance of

sustainability in construction means that many Local Authorities are making much
more effort to look for higher value uses of these waste materials.

It is important to use the design and specification that are most appropriate for the
job in hand. In order to be sustainable, it is important to design and specify in order
to just meet the requirements rather than over-specifying which is wasteful. Local
Authorities can make the best use of available technical expertise and local
knowledge by asking contractors to put forward their own proposals for using
recycled and secondary materials. Outcome- or performance- based specifications
encourage this approach and help to avoid over-specifying and make the best use of
locally available materials. Equally the move to performance specifications such as
that described in TRL Report 611 (Merrill et al, 2004) allows contractors the flexibility
to try out different materials as long as they satisfy the end performance criteria.

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 Box 1.5 Peterborough City Council produces its own specification for
road construction and maintenance which does default to the SHW, but
lays down what this Council wants done. It can be downloaded from
http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/page-641. It encourages a sustainable
approach to construction and maintenance and recycled materials can be
used when appropriate.

There is some risk associated with using recycled materials, as there is always the
fear that the product may not be “fit for purpose”. Where existing standards do not
cover a particular material then certification of its performance can offer assurance
that it is suitable for use. In addition to this, recycled aggregate producers who
declare that their aggregates are produced to the WRAP Quality Protocol for
production of aggregates from inert wastes (2004b) are operating to a quality
management plan that enables them to demonstrate that their aggregates are
recovered from waste and are not subject to the Waste Management Licensing and
can therefore be handled in the same way as primary aggregates (WRAP, 2004b).

Being aware of these risks and taking steps to address them should not be a barrier
to using new recycled materials, especially if significant cost savings and other
sustainability benefits can be made. Resource management and efficiency requires
continuous review and improvement and products and processes will have to be
used for the first time in order for them to be assessed (WRAP, 2004a). Local
Authorities should share experience with new materials and techniques with each
other to avoid carrying out unnecessary trials and to build upon existing expertise
rather than reinventing the wheel.

In order to realise the maximum potential from the primary materials that are used in
construction, it is vital that wherever possible they are reused and recycled back into
as high value an application as possible. This is especially true of high polished
stone value (PSV) aggregate that is used in road surfacing generally and in large
quantities in porous asphalt and modern thin surfacing. This is a material that is in
short supply in the UK and is a valuable natural resource (Thomson et al, 2004).
However, up until now, the surfacing layer has been recycled along with the rest of
the pavement material when really it needs to be separated and reused as surfacing
material. This issue is being addressed by research at TRL, sponsored by HA, which
is assessing the feasibility of recycling thin surfacing back into thin surfacing. See
Box 1.9 for further information.

Box 1.6 Quality Assurance of materials

Devon County Council has established a Technical Appraisal Panel to
identify, test and evaluate new products for highway maintenance,
including recycled materials. The Panel assess the product quality by on-
site visits and demonstrations, controlled trials and a formal review
process. It meets once a month to solve problems and share experiences,
all serving to reduce risks (WRAP, 2004a).

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 Box 1.7 Dundee City Council
Dundee City Council encourages the use of recycled material in
construction and welcomes approaches from contractors regarding this.
The Council already has some experience in the use of recycled materials
that can be reviewed during the early stages of consultations. Where a
contractor is proposing the use of a recycled material that is unfamiliar to
the Council, then a proposer-led certification process can be followed.
http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/ptrans/streetsahead.pdf. The Highway
Maintenance team recognises the environmental impact of its work and
supports the use of recycling techniques and materials where appropriate.
http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/publications/5-2004.pdf.

Box 1.8 Nottinghamshire County Council

The highway network maintenance policy summary states that: “To
facilitate re-use of materials, contract specifications will be written to
require the incorporation of recycled material where feasible and
economic. Wherever possible, traditional materials will be re-used on site
or stored for re-use elsewhere”.
http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/hnmpolicysummary.pdf

Box 1.9 TRL Research project sponsored by HA looking at the

feasibility of recycling thin surfacing back into thin surfacing
(Carswell et al, 2005)
Many sites with thin surfacings need resurfacing in the next few years, and
the aim of this project is to assess the feasibility of recycling the surfacing
back into new surfacing material and make the best use of the high PSV
material that is used in this application. Trial sites of recycled surfacings
containing between 10 and 30% of Recycled Aggregate (RA) were
constructed and so far all are performing satisfactorily. The research is on-
going. The results of the initial trials are reported in TRL 645 (Carswell et
al., 2005).

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 Box 1.10 Hampshire County Council Partners in Innovation (PII)
Demonstration Project 3 Recycled surface dressing chippings
Hampshire County Council used a number of small depots across the
county to store surplus surface dressing chippings and sweepings. The
chippings were screened and lightly coated with bitumen and laid
successfully as a surface dressing. In May to August 2004 the recycled
coated chippings were used at 33 sites and a total of 4,000 tonnes of
chippings were reused. The sites were monitored and are performing well.
The case study can be downloaded from
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/reuse_of_surplus.html.

Box 1.11 Durham City Council

Sustainability in practice means that every action should be carefully
examined to look at its overall effect. For instance the council is now
incorporating sustainability measures into all minor/major highway
schemes and at the same time, undertaking reviews during the
development of designs to ensure that all materials possible are recycled
or reused and that the need for new imported materials is minimised.
http://www.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/usp.nsf/Lookup/LTP2_Main_Doc/$file
/LTP2_Main_Doc.pdf

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1.4 How to make it happen

The document “Recycled Roads” (WRAP, 2005b) is a guide that is dedicated to

showing interested parties how to increase the amount of recycling through
procurement in their LA. It offers a step-by-step approach, making the link from the
Local Authority strategic objectives, showing how these can feed in to the bidding
process and into the final construction. The guide highlights the key issues and most
importantly, the key role of decision makers in reducing waste and maximising waste
throughout the authority. Figure 1.5 below illustrates this process.

Figure 1.5 Framework from Recycled Roads Guide to Local Authority

Procurement (Courtesy of WRAP)

In order to achieve sustainability in construction, it is essential that targets are set for
the use of recovered or recycled materials in the specification of highways contracts.
This vital step needs to be mandated by elected Members and senior Council officers
(WRAP, 2004a). This ensures that all contracts will include a recycling element for
consideration and will go some way to helping the Local Authority/Council satisfy its
sustainability and waste management policies. Equally, it is essential for all
departments within the Local Authority to be striving for sustainability, so that
everyone shares the strategic objectives.

The document “Maintaining a vital asset” (DfT, 2005b) sets out the Local Authority’s
responsibilities with regard to the highway. In order for it to fulfil its potential, it is
essential that the local highway network is adequately maintained. This
infrastructure includes carriageways, footways, bridges, street lighting and signing
and much more. The Local Authority is the owner of this valuable asset and

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therefore responsible for co-ordinating works and for ensuring that the road continues
to be safe and available for users. In order to do this, the Local Authority should
produce a Highway Asset Management Plan (HAMP) which sets out what they want
to achieve with their highway network, the value of this asset and identifying
investment needs and priorities based on whole-life cost.

The Egan review (OPDM, 2004) highlighted the need for Local Authorities to take the
lead in delivering sustainable communities; however they should not be doing this in
isolation and should link up with service providers and key players in the local
community. Consequently there are now many different procurement options
available to Local Authorities such as partnering, term contracts, and frameworks.
They all offer benefits from the point of view of increasing the amount of recycled
materials used in construction.

Box 1.12 Partnering: Staffordshire Highways

Staffordshire County Council has been a leader in the use of recycled and
secondary aggregates in highway works for many years. Until 2004,
however, the maintenance and new construction programmes were
undertaken via a number of organisations and contracts. This made
coordination of different aspects difficult, the procurement processes were
expensive, and there was little opportunity for collaboration between
design and construction teams. This has changed following a Best Value
Review, which led to the setting up of the partnership Staffordshire
Highways in April 2004. There are three main organisations involved in the
partnership:
• ACCORD Operations Ltd: primarily maintenance works,
• Wrekin Construction Ltd: primarily new construction,
• Staffordshire County Council: design and laboratory testing.

The partnership has resulted in much greater collaboration and flexibility

between the various organisations, leading to efficiencies in operations
and rapid resolution of problems. The early involvement of the contractors
has led to greater innovation and more efficient programming of works. A
relatively predictable workload over a period of several years means that it
is worth-while developing design methods and specifications to take
advantage of locally available materials. Details are available at
http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/transport/staffshighways/staffordshirehighw
ays/.

When evaluating tenders, Local Authorities should ensure that there is a recycling
option and that tenders take account of community benefits such as using recycling
materials, avoiding having to landfill any material or reduced traffic disruption (WRAP,
2004a).

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 Box 1.13 Councils Increasing the Recycling of C&D Waste Back into
Construction
East Sussex and Brighton and Hove City Council are partnering to provide
a “Supplementary Guidance Note for Construction & Demolition (C&D)
Waste”. C&D accounts for over half of the waste produced in this area,
over half of which goes to landfill. The guidance note will apply to all
developments, and the contractor or developer will have to state how a
project will comply with it (WRAP, 2004a).

It is vital that reuse and recycling are built in to the initial stages of a project, as this is
where they can have the greatest impact and their benefit can then be fed through
the whole project. This should include not only the use of recycled materials in the
works, but also the maintainability of the product and the ease of recycling it in the
future, even if primary materials are used in the construction. The evaluation of
recycling and reuse should be undertaken at the project inception, planning, options
and procurement phases. In the later stages such as design, works and operation it
is much more difficult to make changes to introduce reuse or recycling as this can
have a profound effect on other aspects of the project.

In a Local Authority, one of the major challenges of procuring and using greater
amounts of recycled material is one of logistics. Local Authority (LA) highway
maintenance and construction usually consists of a large number of small projects,
which, individually, do not warrant the substantial investment required to process and
stockpile the waste material for future recycling and reuse. On LA schemes,
materials are often needed in small quantities, at short notice, at erratic times
dependent on external constraints with the works being undertaken by a number of
differing organisations who are all relatively small themselves. Consequently, it is a
logistical challenge to plan how these materials can be accommodated and
processed in order for them to be ready to use at short notice within the LA (WRAP,
2005b). These facilities should, ideally, be located where they will minimise the
transport distances between where the materials arise and where they are to be used
at a later date. These are unlikely to be the same places (Reid et al, 2006). It may
be that this is a local opportunity to partner with a neighbouring Local Authority in
order to maintain a shared stockpile of processed material that is ready for use in the
local area.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) need to be monitored to track the use of recycled
materials in highways contracts to ensure that contractors are fulfilling their
obligations and doing their best to minimise waste and use recycled products (WRAP,
2004a). The role of KPIs and their use in monitoring the level of recycling in
construction is discussed in more detail in Chapter 9 and a number of KPIs that could
be used to monitor sustainability in highway maintenance works is presented in
Appendix 1.

The aim of sustainability in construction is an important topic that needs to be taken

seriously by Local Authorities. This document provides guidance, advice and case
studies to inspire and guide engineers towards making sustainable choices. It also
highlights the importance of sustainability being a corporate and community goal that
can be achieved through cooperation, coordination and forward planning.

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 Box 1.14 West Lothian Recycling
This company was set up as a joint venture between West Lothian Council
and Tarmac in 1999 and is based at a former spent oil shale bing at
Addiewell. It is a civil engineering and green waste recycling facility,
accepting demolition waste, road arisings and green waste, processing
them and supplying certified Type 1 sub-base, Class 6F5 capping,
engineering fills, unbound footway surfacings, wood mulch, peat free
compost and soil enhancers. West Lothian Council specify that all material
produced on contracts let by the council must be sent to the recycling
centre. The centre takes material from, and provides materials to, not only
the Council but, contractors operating on behalf of the council, public
utilities, local civils and grounds maintenance contractors, and other local
authorities. The business plan is based on 100,000 tonnes per year of
incoming waste, of which 29,000 tonnes is green waste, and 74,000
tonnes per year of outgoing material.

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2. Materials and Applications: Introduction

2.1 General comments

This section deals with the materials and layers that make up roads and footways
and the opportunities that exist for adopting a more sustainable approach to
maintenance and new construction. As indicated in the previous section, government
policy encourages the use of reclaimed and marginal materials wherever possible to
obtain environmental benefits and to conserve primary aggregates. The Landfill Tax
and Aggregate Levy act as powerful economic drivers towards sustainable
construction, encouraging the increased use of secondary and recycled materials in
construction, a reduction in construction waste going to landfill and a reduction in the
use of primary aggregates.

Suitable materials may be those reclaimed from roads during reconstruction, from
residues of industrial processes or from the demolition of other construction projects.
These materials may provide good value for money especially where haulage
distance are small. HD35 (2004) draws the attention of those responsible for the
design, specification, construction and maintenance of roads to conserve and re-use
materials arising from roadworks, as well as the potential uses for secondary or
recycled materials from other sources that may prove to be cost effective. This
document is part of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges and is owned by the
Highways Agency, Transport Scotland, the Welsh Assembly Government and the
Department for Regional Development, a department of the Northern Ireland
Executive, and hence applies in all parts of the UK.

A Joint Circular from the DoE (20/87), DoT (3/87) and Welsh Office (36/87) entitled
‘Use of Waste Material for Road Fills’ sets out the administrative procedures to
ensure that information about future road schemes and their likely fill requirements
are passed to local Planning Authorities at the earliest possible stage. In Scotland the
National Planning Policy Guideline NPPG4, Land for Mineral Working, issued by the
Scottish Office Environment Department (1994), gives guidance to planning
authorities on the recycling and re-use of construction waste and materials in waste
tips where this is environmentally acceptable.

As recycled and secondary materials may be more variable than primary aggregates,
to give confidence in their use, more frequent testing may be required to enable their
re-use at high level within the road pavement construction. Quality protocols can be
used by suppliers to give clients greater confidence in the consistency and quality of
their products. This is discussed in more detail in Chapter 8, along with the relevant
standards and specifications.

The layers and materials that make up the highway are described, along with the
materials that are generally permitted for use in them. Techniques for repair and
maintenance are then described, followed by the possibilities for reuse of the
materials arising from these works. The potential use of other recycled and
secondary aggregates, and their availability across the UK, are then described.
Finally, the standards and specifications that are used for highway works, and the
opportunities to use recycled materials in these works, are briefly described.

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3. Layers and Materials in a Pavement
3.1 Construction of the pavement
The pavement consists of a number of layers made up from different materials. The
naturally occurring ground is the subgrade. If this is unweathered rock it may have
adequate strength to be built directly upon, however, most subgrades require
construction of some form of foundation to the main structural layers of the pavement.
The structural layers of the pavement consist of a base, a binder course and a
surface course. In the case of a rigid pavement these three layers are combined into
one layer of pavement quality concrete. In a rigid composite construction the base
layer is pavement quality concrete and is overlaid with a bituminous surfacing, this
may be during the original construction or as maintenance during the life of the
pavement. In a flexible composite construction the base course will be constructed
with a hydraulic bound material. Figure 3.1 indicates the pavement layers for flexible,
flexible composite, rigid composite and rigid construction.

The structural layers are supported by the sub-base, which may be either unbound or
hydraulically bound. The bottom of the sub-base is taken as the formation level and
the base of the pavement. Beneath the pavement is the existing ground, or subgrade,
which may be natural or made ground depending on the situation. A capping layer is
often placed on top of the subgrade to create a layer of sufficient strength to allow
construction of the pavement layers. The capping is part of the subgrade and may be
unbound or hydraulically bound material imported to the site or existing ground
strengthened with lime or cement in-situ.

Flexible
Rigid
Flexiblecomposite
Rigid composite

Surfacing
Surface course
course

Binder course
Pavement
quality
Base concrete

Formation Sub-Base

Foundation
Sub - formation Capping

Subgrade

Figure 3.1 Pavement Layers for Various Types of Construction

The layers indicated above are typical for schemes constructed by the Highways
Agency using the Specification for Highway Works (SHW) and design standards
HD25 for foundations and HD26 for the pavement design. This specification and the
design standards may be overly conservative for low traffic roads. The Local
Authority road network consists of a wide range of roads categorised as Built-up and
Non-built-up which are sub-divided into Principal, Other Classified and Unclassified.

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These categories represent roads that have been constructed from the above
designs, others that have evolved with successive layers being constructed over a
number of years to those that are merely surface dressed. Roads constructed over
the last thirty years are likely to be built to standard designs corresponding generally
to Figure 3.1 whether these are heavily trafficked major roads connecting to the trunk
road and motorway network or lightly trafficked minor roads in housing estates. Older
roads, including many heavily trafficked major roads, may have ‘evolved’ by the
addition of successive layers of bituminous material over many years (Figure 3.2).
Often there may be little or no record of the various phases of construction. These
roads pose particular challenges when maintenance is required because of the
uncertainty associated with their construction and their potential variability.

Figure 3.2 A Typical ‘Evolved’ Road: Nine Mile Ride, Crowthorne

3.2 Materials used for pavement construction

The materials that may be found or used in the various layers of the pavement and in
other aspects of pavement construction are discussed below. The materials that are
permitted under the Specification for Highway Works for the various layers are listed.
A wider range of recycled and secondary aggregates is permitted in HD 35/04,
Conservation and the Use of Secondary and Recycled Materials (Highways Agency
et al., 2004). Table 2.1 from HD 35/04 is reproduced as Table 3.1 It may be possible
to use other locally available materials for these applications, so long as they meet
the requirements of the Specification and do not have any adverse environmental
effects. This should be particularly considered for lightly trafficked roads, where the
requirements of the Specification for Highway Works may be unduly onerous. It
should be noted that where a material is shown as a permitted constituent, this does
not mean it will automatically be suitable in any given situation; the particular material,
whether primary, recycled or secondary, still has to meet the requirements of the
Specification for that application, e.g. in terms of grading, particle strength and other
properties as necessary.

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 Table 3.1 Recycled and Secondary Materials permitted in HD35/04

Application Pipe Embank Capping Unbound Hydraulically Bitumen PQ

and Bedding ment Mixtures Bound Bound Concrete
Series and Fill for Sub- Mixtures for Layers
base Sub-base
and Base
Material 500 600 600 800 800 900 1000
Blast furnace slag 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Burnt Colliery x 9 9 9 9 x x
Spoil
China Clay Sand/ 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Stent
Coal Fly Ash/ 9 9 9 x 9 9 9
Pulverised Fuel
Ash (CFA/PFA)
Foundry Sand 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Furnace Bottom 9 9 9 x 9 x x
Ash (FBA)
Incinerator Bottom 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Ash Aggregate
(IBAA)
Phosphoric Slag 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Recycled 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Aggregate (RA)
Recycled Asphalt 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
(RAP)
Recycled 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Concrete (RCA)
Recycled Glass 9 9 9 9 9 9 x
Slate Aggregate 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Spent Oil Shale x 9 9 9 9 x X
Steel Slag 9 9 9 9 9 9
Unburnt Colliery x 9 X x 9 x x
Spoil

Key:
9 Specific (permitted as a constituent if the material complies with the Specification (MCHW 1) or General
Provision (permitted as a constituent if the material complies with the Specification (MCHW 1)
requirements but not named within the Specification (MCHW 1)).
X Not permitted.

Important Notes:
1. Table 1 is for guidance only and reference must be made to the accompanying text (of HD 35/04) and the
Specification (MCHW 1). Materials indicated as complying with the Specification (MCHW 1) for a particular
application may not necessarily comply with all the requirements of the series listed, only particular clauses.
For example in the 600 Series, Unburnt Colliery Spoil can satisfy the Specification as a general fill, but is
excluded as a structural fill; and in Series 1000 recycled or secondary materials are not permitted within the
running surface of PQ concrete. Reference should also be made to the Specification (MCHW 1) for any
maximum constituent percentages of specific recycled or secondary aggregates. For example, in the 1000
Series, the maximum by mass constituent of Recycled Asphalt is given under the limits for ‘other material’
(Table 10/2) within the Specification (MCHW 1).
2. There is no Specific or General Provision for the use of recycled glass as an aggregate in PQ concrete or
Hydraulically Bound Mixtures due to the potential for deleterious alkali-silica reaction (ASR). However, its
use may be permitted by the Overseeing Organisation if sufficient provisions to minimise the risk of
deleterious ASR are included in the mixture design.
3. There is no Specific or general Provision for the use of steel slag as an aggregate in PQ concrete or
Hydraulically Bound Mixtures due to the potential for volume instability. However, its use may be permitted
by the Overseeing Organisation if sufficient assurance of volume stability is provided.

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The surface and binder courses are layers comprised of aggregate held together
by a binder. The binder used in these layers may be bitumen or cement based. The
cement bound material is pavement quality concrete and the bitumen bound material
is asphalt. The surface course is the layer in contact with the vehicles using the
pavement and has to provide a safe running surface and often contains high quality
aggregate. Skid resistance is particularly important for this layer, generally measured
by the Polished Stone Value (PSV) of the aggregate (see Chapter 7.3). The materials
permitted for coarse aggregate in bitumen bound layers in the Specification for
Highway Works are listed below. The materials also have to comply with the specific
requirements for the layer.

• Permitted materials 1 for asphalt: crushed rock, gravel, blastfurnace slag,

steel slag, recycled coarse aggregate and recycled concrete aggregate;
reclaimed asphalt may be used as up to 10% in surface course and up to
50% in binder course; pulverised-fuel ash (PFA) may be used as filler.
• Permitted materials for pavement quality concrete: crushed rock, gravel,
blastfurnace slag, recycled aggregate or recycled concrete aggregate; PFA
may be used as a partial replacement for cement.

The base layer may consist of any of the materials used for the surface and binder
courses or hydraulic bound materials. Hydraulic bound materials may be cement
bound, slag bound, fly ash bound or bound with hydraulic road binder. Older
pavements may also contain layers of wet mix or dry bound macadam which are not
in use as a base layer in current construction practice. For lightly trafficked roads, an
unbound or stabilised layer may be suitable. The purpose of the base layer is to
spread the load from traffic onto the weaker underlying layers.

• Permitted materials for asphalt: as for surface and binder course.

• Permitted materials for pavement quality concrete: as for surface and
binder course.
• Permitted materials for hydraulically bound materials: PFA, granulated or
ground granulated blast furnace slag, cement and lime may be used as
binders; any primary, recycled or secondary aggregate meeting the
requirements of the specification may be used as coarse aggregate.

1
“Permitted materials”, both here and subsequently in this section, refers to the materials
generally permitted without specific approval by the client in the current version of the
Specification for Highway Works. Furthermore, for certain mixture types or specific uses,
there may be further restrictions and/or easing of the restrictions.

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 Box 3.1 Use of Granular Material Stabilised with Fly Ash (GFA) by
Staffordshire County Council
The use of hydraulically bound materials (HBM) has increased
considerably in the UK in recent years. An example of this is the
development of Granular material treated with Fly Ash (GFA) by
Staffordshire County Council.

GFA consists of a coarse aggregate, often asphalt planings, bound with

about 12% pulverized-fuel ash (PFA) and 3% lime or cement. PFA is
widely available in the Staffordshire area from a number of coal-fired
power stations, and planings are available from regular highway
maintenance works. Staffordshire Engineering Services and Wrekin
Construction have been developing methods of working with GFA over the
last five years. Processed Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) has also been
used as the coarse aggregate, and GFA incorporating aggregates
produced from both planings and IBA was used in the Burntwood Bypass
in 2001. GFA can be placed with a paver or tracked excavator and
compacted like a soil, but it gains strength to be similar to a cement bound
material with time. Hence a single layer of GFA can be used to replace
separate layers of unbound sub-base and road base in a conventional
road construction.

Two GFA applications were carried out in 2005: a 1350 m single

carriageway access road to Kingswood Lake Development near Cannock
and Phase 1 of the Rugeley Bypass, involving 650 m of single carriageway
and a roundabout junction. Both applications were designed using the
principles of TRL Report 611 and were carried out very successfully. 9,300
tonnes of GFA were placed at Kingswood Lake, and 6,800 tonnes at
Rugeley. The projects have estimated traffic loads of 5 – 7 million standard
axles (msa) and 8 – 12 msa respectively. Direct cost savings of about 40%
on the base and sub-base layers were achieved by the use of GFA
compared to conventional construction, plus environmental benefits. A
formal design guide and specification for GFA is now available via TRL
Report 611 (Merrill et al., 2004). Staffordshire are now looking to use GFA
in other projects. They have also developed an in-situ process using the
design guidance in TRL 611.

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The sub-base, which may be a bound or unbound layer, gives uniform support to the
structural layers and also acts as a working platform when constructing the base
layer. The unbound material may consist of graded aggregate (Type 1 or Type 2
mixtures), open graded (Type 3 mixture), close graded (Category B mixture) or
asphalt arisings (Type 4) and should have a California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of at
least 30% to allow construction of the pavement layers. Frost heave is a particular
concern for this layer. Some recycled aggregates with a high proportion of crushed
brick may be susceptible to frost heave, so this should always be checked using the
test given in Series 800 of the SHW (see Chapter 8). The bound sub-base would be
a hydraulically bound material, with cement, slag, fly ash or other hydraulic road
binder.

• Permitted materials for unbound sub-base: recycled asphalt, recycled

coarse aggregate or recycled concrete aggregate, crushed slag and well
burnt non-plastic shale, crushed rock and gravel. Various combinations of
these materials, such as up to 50% recycled asphalt in Type 1 and Type 2
unbound sub-base. Up to 25% glass is permitted in Types 1, 2 and 4.

The capping is a layer used to improve the bearing capacity of the subgrade, the top
of the capping should have a CBR of at least 15%, to allow construction of the sub-
base and act as a structural layer in the longer term. Capping may be a bound or
unbound layer which utilises locally available material. Typical unbound capping
materials are selected granular (fine or coarse grading), or recycled asphalt. Natural
soils that are not sufficiently strong to act as capping may be rendered acceptable by
the addition of cement or lime. Figure 3.3 shows how selected conditioned pulverised
fuel ash, selected granular or selected cohesive materials that fall into the
Specification for Highway Works (SHW) Classes 6E, 7E, 7F, 7G or 7I can be
stabilised with cement or lime to form acceptable Class 9 materials. Material that is
unacceptable Class U1 because of excessive moisture content can be dried out by
the use of lime to one of the Class 6 or 7 fills before further treatment to turn it into an
acceptable Class 9 fill.

• Permitted materials for unbound capping: see Table 3.3 Recycled

aggregates are generally acceptable for capping but certain materials are not
permitted in some Classes. These are unburnt colliery spoil, argillaceous rock,
chalk and materials containing tar or tar/bitumen binders.

The subgrade is the naturally occurring ground and is assessed by means of its
CBR value. Subgrades with CBR < 2% make it very difficult to compact upper layers
and are usually removed to a substantial depth, overlaid with a thick capping layer or
stabilised with cement and/or lime. Subgrades of CBR 2% to 15% require a capping
layer, which reduces in thickness as the subgrade gets stronger, beneath the sub-
base. For CBR of 2.5% to 15% in flexible construction, the capping may be replaced
with additional sub-base. For strong subgrades of greater than 15% only a nominal
sub-base is required. Generally clays will have a CBR of 1% to 5%, sands and
gravels will have a CBR greater than 5%. However, the CBR of a material is not
constant but is very heavily affected by its moisture content, as shown in Box 3.2. It is
therefore important that values are measured by laboratory or in-situ tests, and that
the design CBR chosen allows for the long term moisture content of the material.

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 Figure 3.3 The Process of Stabilising Class U1 Material for Capping (from
HA74/07)

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 Box 3.2 California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Pavement Design
The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is a test in which a 50mm diameter
plunger is forced into a sample of soil at a constant rate of strain. The
resistance to penetration is recorded and is reported as the ratio to the
value for a standard crushed rock; thus crushed rock would have a CBR of
100%, whereas soft clay would have a CBR of less than 2%. The test can
be performed in the laboratory or on site and is widely used in road and
airfield pavement design. The CBR of a soil is affected by its
density/degree of compaction and by its moisture content, as indicated for
silty sand in Figure 3.4. The CBR decreases from over 50% at a moisture
content of 5% to about 8% at a moisture content of 10% and less than 2%
at a moisture content of 12%.

1000

Gilfach quarry
Craig-yr Hesg quarry
Gelligaer quarry
100
CBR (%)

10

1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Moisture content (% )

Figure 3.4 Variation of CBR of Silty Sand with Moisture Content (from Lamb and
Reid, 2006)

Drainage materials consist of the pipes and the bedding, laying, surrounding and
backfilling materials. The pipes may be constructed of vitrified clay, concrete, glass
reinforced plastic, iron, unplasticised polyvinyl-chloride (PVC-U), polypropylene (PP),
polyethylene (PE) or corrugated steel.

• Permitted materials for pipe bedding and filter drain material: crushed
rock, gravel, aggregate, recycled aggregate or recycled concrete aggregate.

General fills may consist of well graded, uniformly graded, or coarse granular, wet or
dry cohesive, stony or silty cohesive materials, reclaimed pulverised fuel ash
cohesive material or chalk conforming to SHW Classes 1, 2 or 3. This means that
most recycled and secondary aggregates will be acceptable as general fill with the
exception of chalk for some Classes and reclaimed pulverised fuel ash containing
>20% furnace bottom ash.

• Permitted materials for general fill: See Table 3.2.

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 Table 3.2 Permitted Constituents for General Fill in Series 600 Earthworks

Class Description and use Permitted Constituents

1A Well graded granular material
Any material or combination of materials,
Uniformly graded granular
1B other than material designated as Class 3
material
in the Contract. Recycled Aggregate
1C Coarse granular material
Any material or combination of materials,
2A Wet cohesive material other than material designated as Class 3
in the Contract.
2B Dry cohesive material
Any material or combination of materials,
2C Stony cohesive material
other than chalk.
2D Silty cohesive material
Reclaimed material from lagoon or
2E Reclaimed pulverised-fuel ash stockpile containing not more than 20%
furnace bottom ash
Chalk and other materials designated as
3 Chalk
Class 3 in the Contract.

Selected Fills may be selected well graded granular, selected granular, selected
cohesive or selected conditioned pulverised fuel ash cohesive material to SHW
Classes 6 or 7. A number of different applications are covered by these classes,
including starter layers for embankments, fill for gabions and backfill to a wide range
of structures. Excluded are argillaceous rock (shale, mudstone, siltstone, slate and
micaceous schist) because it is flaky and tends to delaminate, is soft and difficult to
compact. Argillaceous rock includes unburnt colliery spoil.

Slag is excluded from applications which may potentially be below the water table
because of concerns about leachate or in direct contact with corrugated steel buried
structures. Unweathered slag is likely to swell when exposed to moisture, as well as
generating polluting leachate, and this can cause disruption to overlying road
pavements. Slag should always be fully weathered before use in construction, to
avoid potential problems with swelling and leachate. Even if unweathered slag does
not swell when it is first placed, because it is dry, it can be activated by ingress of
moisture at a later date, for example when the road is opened for utility works.

Recycled asphalt is excluded from applications where it may be present in layers of

significant thickness because of the risk of long term creep settlement due to the
bitumen content. Research has shown that up to about 2% bitumen content, a fill
material will behave essentially as a granular material. Above this level, it will start to
become more compressible. This is particularly important in applications such as
backfill to structures, retaining walls and corrugated steel buried structures where
settlement of the backfill would have a major impact on the performance of the
structure.

• Permitted materials for selected fill: See Table 3.3.

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 Table 3.3 Permitted Constituents for Selected Fill in Series 600 Earthworks

Class Description and use Permitted Constituents

Natural gravel, natural sand, crushed
gravel, crushed rock other than
Selected well graded granular
6A argillaceous rock, crushed concrete,
material: below water
chalk, well burnt colliery spoil or any
combination thereof. Recycled aggregate
Natural gravel, natural sand, crushed
Selected coarse granular gravel, crushed rock, crushed concrete,
6B
material: starter layer chalk, well burnt colliery spoil, slag or any
combination thereof. Recycled aggregate
Selected uniformly graded Natural gravel, natural sand, crushed
6C
granular material: starter layer gravel, crushed rock other than
argillaceous rock, crushed concrete,
Selected uniformly graded
chalk, well burnt colliery spoil, slag or any
6D granular material: starter layer
combination thereof. Recycled aggregate
below pulverised-fuel ash
Selected granular material: for Any material, or combination of materials,
6E stabilisation with cement to form other than unburnt colliery spoil and
capping argillaceous rock. Recycled aggregate
Any material, or combination of materials,
Selected granular material (fine other than unburnt colliery spoil,
6F1
grading): capping argillaceous rock and chalk. Recycled
aggregate
Any material, or combination of materials,
Selected granular material
6F2 other than unburnt colliery spoil and
(coarse grading): capping
argillaceous rock. Recycled aggregate
Recycled bituminous planings and
Selected granular material: granulated asphalt, but excluding material
6F3
capping containing tar or tar-bitumen binders.
Recycled aggregate
Selected granular material (fine Unbound mixtures complying with BS EN
6F4
grading) – capping 13285.
Any material, or combination of materials
imported on to the Site: – including
recycled aggregate, but excluding unburnt
Selected granular material
6F5 colliery spoil, argillaceous rock and chalk.
(coarse grading) – capping
Recycled asphalt up to 50%, provided
bitumen content is < 2.0%.

Natural gravel, crushed rock, crushed

Selected granular material: concrete or any combination thereof.
6G
gabion filling None of these constituents shall contain
any argillaceous rock
Natural gravel, natural sand, crushed
gravel, crushed rock, crushed concrete,
Selected granular material: chalk, well burnt colliery spoil or any
6H drainage layer to reinforced soil combination thereof. None of these
and anchored earth structures constituents shall contain any
argillaceous rock. Recycled aggregate
except recycled asphalt

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Class Description and use Permitted Constituents
Selected well graded granular Natural gravel, natural sand, crushed
6I material: fill to reinforced soil gravel, crushed rock, crushed concrete,
and anchored earth structures slag, chalk, well burnt colliery spoil or any
combination thereof except that chalk
shall not be combined with any other
Selected uniformly graded
constituent. None of these constituents
granular material: fill to
6J shall contain any argillaceous rock.
reinforced soil and anchored
Recycled aggregate except recycled
earth structures
asphalt

Selected granular material:

6K lower bedding for corrugated Natural gravel, natural sand, crushed
steel buried structures gravel, crushed rock, crushed concrete,
Selected uniformly graded well burnt colliery spoil or any
granular material: upper combination thereof. None of these
6L
bedding for corrugated steel constituents shall contain any
buried structures argillaceous rock. Recycled aggregate
Selected granular material: except recycled asphalt
6M surround to corrugated steel
buried structures
Selected well graded granular
6N
material: fill to structures
Natural gravel, natural sand, crushed
gravel, crushed rock, crushed concrete,
slag, chalk, well burnt colliery spoil or any
Selected granular material: fill to
6P combination thereof. None of these
structures
constituents shall contain any
argillaceous rock. Recycled aggregate
except recycled asphalt
As Class 1A, 1B or 1C granular fill
Well graded uniformly graded or
materials, but not to include argillaceous
coarse granular material:
6Q rock, slag or PFA in any proportions.
overlying fill for corrugated steel
Recycled aggregates except recycled
buried structures
asphalt
Selected granular material: for
Any material, or combination of materials,
stabilisation with lime and
6R other than unburnt colliery spoil and
cement to form stabilised
argillaceous rock
capping
Selected well graded granular
6S material: filter layer below sub- Crushed rock or sand
base
Selected conditioned
pulverised-fuel ash cohesive
7B Conditioned material direct from power
material: fill to structures and
station dust collection system and to
reinforced soil
which a controlled quantity of water has
Selected conditioned
been added
pulverised-fuel ash cohesive
7G
material: for stabilisation with
cement to form capping
Any, except that there shall not be any
Class 1, Class 2 or Class 3
8 stones or lumps of clay > 40mm nominal
material: lower trench fill
diameter. Recycled aggregate

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Kerbs may be of concrete, asphalt, plastic or rubber construction. Advantages of
kerbs made from recycled plastic or rubber are that they are much lighter than
conventional concrete kerbs and hence can be handled manually, whereas machines
are now required for handling conventional kerbs. A potential problem with kerbs
made from recycled plastic is that they may change colour with time, as variability in
the nature of the feedstock can affect the colour fastness of the product. Specialist
machines are now available for planing existing concrete kerbs and backing,
producing high quality recycled concrete aggregate which can be used as Type 1
unbound sub-base.

Footways may be constructed with a surfacing of concrete, natural stone,

bituminous bound material, concrete blocks or clay pavers. The surfacing would be
laid on a bound or unbound sub-base. The permitted materials for these applications
are generally the same as those for in highways listed above. However, footways
often provide a good opportunity to trial new materials and techniques in areas of
little risk; if successful, they can then be extended to more demanding applications.

Box 3.3 Trial using Cold Recycled Bituminous Bound Material in

Footways in Hampshire
Hampshire County Council, their routine highway maintenance term
contractor RCS Limited and supplier Foster Yeoman carried out a trial
using cold recycled bituminous bound material with foamed bitumen as the
binder and recycled asphalt planings from work elsewhere in the county
(Foamix) for the repair of 700m of footway in the village of Martyr Worthy.
The foamix was used to repair the sub-base and as a combined base and
binder course with a surface dressing. Normally, a reconstructed footway
would require a full surface course. However, the foamix and surface
dressing has performed as well as conventional construction with hot
asphalt and a full surface course. The material was easy to place and
saved time by using one material for the sub-base, base and binder.
Environmental savings were made by the reuse of asphalt planings and by
the use of cold mix materials instead of hot asphalt with primary
aggregates. Useful experience with foamix was obtained from the trial, and
it is now used widely for highway maintenance work in Hampshire.

Various materials that satisfy the requirements of the SHW Class 4 material are used
for Landscaping fill. These are often excavated soils that are not strong enough or
have too high an organic content to be acceptable as general fills. The materials may
also be wood or compost (see
http://www.wrap.org.uk/landscaping/highways_roads.html for more information).

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Topsoil is classified in the SHW as Class 5 materials and may be topsoil or turf
existing on the site or imported topsoil.

Road marking materials consist of thermoplastics, polymers, resins, silica sand and
glass beads.

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4 Maintenance Techniques
4.1 Introduction
Roads are designed to have a maintenance strategy, so that interventions are
necessary on a planned basis to maintain serviceability as the cumulative traffic load
increases with time. Maintenance may also be necessary on occasion in response to
unplanned events. Standard maintenance strategies have been developed to deal
with this type of deterioration, involving regular surveys, surface dressings and
eventually complete reconstruction of the pavement. This mode of deterioration is
particularly applicable to the Principal Roads at the top end of range of road types for
which Local Authorities are responsible. However, for many Local Authority roads
weather and localised overloading or weak spots are the main deterioration models,
and treatments are often restricted to small scale patching and repair works spread
across the network. Guidance on maintenance techniques for trunk roads and
motorways are given in Volume 7 of the DMRB, and the various techniques are
described in the SHW and discussed in this chapter. These techniques are also
applicable to many Local Authority roads. Maintenance techniques commonly used
by Local Authorities are described in the following sections.

There are a number of maintenance techniques which will allow the re-use of existing
materials or the use of recycled or secondary aggregates in the pavement. It is
essential that the reclaimed materials are consistent, as variability in materials will
reduce the efficiency of the operation.

4.2 Surface course

Repairs to the surface course probably constitute the single greatest area of
maintenance for Local Authority highway engineers. These can form large single
projects, where an extensive length of highway requires surface dressing for example,
but often constitute a large number of small projects spread over a wide area. In
general they require good quality aggregates such that the texture depth and skid
resistance can be maintained for a considerable length of time. This therefore
precludes the use of most secondary and recycled materials, which generally have
relatively low skid resistance. However, steel slag can be used in this layer and is
widely used in the surface course in some parts of the country.

It is possible to recycle the existing surface course for use in new surface course, as
indicated by the case studies for TRL 645 (Carswell et al., 2005) (Box 1.9) and
Rockingham Road (Box 1.4). This requires the surface course to be separated from
the binder course and base layers during the planing and subsequent processing
works, but enables higher value applications to be obtained for the recycled material.
Care has to be taken in assessing the PSV of the recycled material, which may come
from a variety of sources and aggregate sizes (e.g. 6 & 10mm).

Recycling of road surface layers results in the economic use of readily available
materials and produces savings from reduced energy requirements for mineral
extraction, transport and mixing, and advances environmental conservation by
reducing the extraction of new material and the corresponding reduction in the
disposal of excavated material. Recycling may be undertaken hot or cold and may be
in-situ or in a central plant.

In-situ hot recycling may be by the repave process in which a thin layer of
surfacing material is bonded to the pre-heated, scarified and reprofiled surface. This

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is not suitable if excessive hardening of the binder has occurred. Another technique
is the remix process in which the existing surface is pre-heated and scarified. The
scarified material is collected into a mixing unit in the paving train and mixed with
new material before being re-laid. Pre-coated chippings contained in existing hot
rolled asphalt surfacing need not be removed for these processes as they are mixed
into the scarified material, increasing the stone content. The remix and repave
processes are covered by Clause 926 of the SHW. Remix/repave can be used
together but require a paving machine with two augers. These three processes can
address the following defects:

• Deteriorating skid resistance;

• Cracking and crazing caused by binder hardening in the surfacing;
• Ravelled or fretted surfaces or chipping loss;
• Ruts, pot-holes and poor ride quality;
• Reflective cracking above cement bound bases;
• Short-term strengthening prior to major strengthening.

The in-situ cold recycling process is retread in which the existing road surface is
scarified, has new binder added, and is reshaped and compacted to form a new
surfacing. More recent techniques allow this process to a depth of 350mm using
cement or foamed bitumen. TRL 611 (Merrill et al., 2004) gives guidance on the use
of these techniques which may be used for roads up to 30msa; a departure is
required for higher trafficked roads. These techniques can also be undertaken using
a mobile plant on the site.

Central plant hot recycling is a process where the surfacing material is planed and
taken from the road to a mixing plant where a new asphalt mixture is created using
the old material. For asphalt binder course and base, up to 30% reclaimed asphalt is
considered to be the optimum mixture for ease of quality control. However, even with
the surface course, significant proportions of reclaimed asphalt can be incorporated
successfully, as demonstrated on the M4 between junctions 32 and 33 in August
2006 when CEMEX used 25% reclaimed porous asphalt planings in their thin
surfacing for the Welsh Assembly.

Central plant cold recycling is the process of excavating bitumen or cement bound
pavements and using the crushed and graded material in the highest value pavement
layer as possible. If quantities are sufficient to justify it, a mobile crusher is bought
onto the site. Asphalt may require a granulator as opposed to a jaw type crusher to
reduce the material to an acceptable and consistent grading.

Inlay involves planing the existing surface material, usually to a nominal 15mm, and
then utilising the repave or remix process to restore the profile and levels. This
process can save up to 45% in new material compared to a conventional 40mm inlay.

For an overlay, planing is not normally required unless surface dressing is present.
This should be removed before the repave or remix is performed to avoid enrichment
of the scarified material, difficulties with plant operation and excessive fume
emissions. The thickness of new material in an overlay is 15 – 30mm for repave or
10 – 30mm for remix, offering savings of 30 – 50% in materials compared to a
conventional 45 – 50mm overlay. This process only raises the road level by 10 –
30mm obviating the need for raising kerbs etc.

Flow charts are given in HD 31 for determining when to use remix or repave and
overlay or inlay processes.

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Haunching is the maintenance of the outer edges of the carriageway. This involves
partial or total reconstruction of a defective edge structure or the construction of a new
section to widen the carriageway. In 1991, the County Surveyors Society published a
report entitled "A Practical Guide to Haunching" (CSS, 1991). This report gives
practical advice for engineers and technicians working in Highway Maintenance and
covers the investigation, design, supervision and testing required for the effective
repair of haunches. To complement this document, there is the TRL Report “Road
Haunches: A Guide to Maintenance Practice” (Luck, 1991) which gives full details of
haunch design and materials and introduces the concept of “versatile design” with local
materials.

When undertaking haunching there is often the opportunity to recycle material removed
from the pavement or adjacent to the pavement. TRL report TRL 216 "Road
Haunches: A Guide to Re-usable Materials" (Potter, 1996) is based on the measured
performance of re-usable materials in road trials over a period of two years. It
incorporates and updates the design guidance given in the CCS publication to make it
a "stand alone" document. However, it is recommended that this report is used in
conjunction with the CSS and TRL publications because the engineering principles
used in design and construction of haunches are equally applicable to virgin and re-
usable materials.

Box 4.1 Use of Recycling Techniques in Haunching Works by

Staffordshire Highways
A common operation for Local Authority highway maintenance works is
haunching and overlay works to upgrade narrow rural roads for higher
traffic loads. The verges of the existing roads are often damaged by the
wheels of heavy vehicles going over the edges of the paved surface.
Staffordshire Engineering Services and ACCORD have developed
techniques to maximise the use of recycled materials in these operations.
These include the use of cement stabilisation to improve the verges,
followed by the use of cold lay asphalt (foamix) produced with foamed
bitumen and recycled asphalt planings as the coarse aggregate as a 150
mm overlay, with a thin surface dressing layer. These techniques avoid the
production of any excavation waste from the site, or the use of any primary
aggregate in the overlay. An example is the repair of 1200 m of 3.1 m wide
single carriageway Class C rural road at Moat Lane, Newborough in the
summer of 2004. The road had been damaged by 20 tonne lorries
accessing a depot on Moat Lane. The road was widened by 1.0 m on
either side, and the recycling operation was about 20% cheaper than one
using primary aggregates and conventional construction methods.

Surface dressing is a form of maintenance that is required when a road shows

extensive surface deterioration and is applied as part of a planned maintenance
operation for a complete stretch of road. However, if the pavement is allowed to
deteriorate too far, surface dressing will not be effective.

High friction surfacing is increasingly used in specific short stretches of road where
there is particular risk of skidding, such as the approaches to roundabouts (Figure
4.1). The aggregate most commonly used for this application is calcined bauxite, a
fine-grained material produced by heating bauxite in a rotary kiln to over 1200ºC. This
provides excellent skid resistance, but unfortunately the material is not very durable
and tends to break up after a few years. Attempts have been made to find materials
that combine high skid resistance with long term durability, but so far with limited

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success. These high cost/short life materials should be used where they are really
needed, and where it is affordable to replace them on a regular basis, e.g. at
pedestrian crossings.

Figure 4.1 High Friction Surfacing at Approach to Roundabout

4.3 Deeper pavement repairs

When a highway has deteriorated to such an extent that it is showing major signs of
distress, such as deep rutting and cracking and unevenness, it becomes necessary
to reconstruct the entire pavement rather than just the surface layer. Traditionally this
has been carried out by excavating the existing layers and replacing them with
completely new construction. However, in recent years a number of techniques have
been developed that enable the existing materials to be recycled into the new
construction, thus saving on primary resources, disposal of waste to landfill and
transport and related environmental impacts.

A variety of recycling processes are covered by the SHW, as indicated in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1 Recycling Processes Covered by the SHW

SHW Clause Recycling Process
614, 615, 643 Lime and cement stabilisation for capping
713 to 716 Saw cut and seal, crack and seat (concrete and HBM)
902 Reclaimed bituminous materials in hot asphalt
926 In-situ recycling: the remix and repave processes
948 Cold recycled bitumen bound material
1046 Cold recycled cement bound material

One of the major developments in the last decade has been cold recycling
techniques for asphalt and concrete pavements. Initially this was developed as an in-
situ technique, and guidance was first published in TRL 386 (Milton and Earland,
1999). With more experience, the technique has been extended to a wider range of
binders, covering all combinations of hydraulic and visco-elastic binders, and to ex-
situ applications as well as in-situ ones. In ex-situ applications, the existing pavement
layers are broken out as for the in-situ applications, but the materials are removed to
a nearby temporary depot where they are screened and mixed with the relevant
binders under controlled conditions before being taken back to the site and placed
with a conventional paver. With both techniques, pavements can be recycled to a

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depth of about 325mm. A conventional surface course is generally required on top of
the cold recycled materials.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both techniques. The ex-situ technique
allows better control over the materials going back into the road than the in-situ
technique, hence there is more certainty that design stiffness values can be achieved
and the layers are generally thinner than with in-situ cold recycling. There can also
be problems with existing services or obstructions that make the use of in-situ cold
recycling difficult, particularly in urban areas. However, in-situ cold recycling avoids
the need for temporary sites for storing and processing the materials, which can be
difficult to obtain in urban areas. Both in-situ and ex-situ techniques are reported to
offer savings of up to 25% in cost and time, as well as the environmental savings of
avoiding material going to landfill and emissions of CO2 due to the reduced transport
and hot-mix asphalt emissions compared to conventional repairs. Savings in the time
for which roads have to be closed can be particularly important in congested urban
areas. The case study of Rockingham Road, Corby in Part 1 is an example of ex-situ
cold recycling. In areas where primary aggregates are readily available, cold
recycling may not always be the cheapest material cost option, but offers other
sustainability benefits such as energy savings and reduced time of road closures.

The experience of the London Borough of Merton with a range of techniques is

summarised in the case study below.

Asphalt planings and other arisings can also be recycled back into new hot asphalt
as reclaimed asphalt under Clause 902 of the Specification for Highway Works. Up
to 50% reclaimed material is permitted in base and binder course, and up to 10% in
the surface course.

Box 4.2 Use of Reclaimed Asphalt in the A34 Chievely/M4 Junction 13

Improvement
This major project was undertaken by Costain for the Highways Agency
and was designed as a sustainable transport solution. Significant
quantities of recycled asphalt were obtained at an early stage in the works
from planing works on the M4 by surfacing contractor Foster Yeoman. The
planings were taken to Foster Yeoman’s plant at Theale, 12 miles east of
the site, where the asphalt plant had been set up to incorporate the
planings as 10% of the new asphalt base and binder course layers. The
planings were screened and processed prior to incorporation in the new
asphalt. The bitumen content of the planings was checked and the binder
content of the new asphalt adjusted to take this into account. The planings
were used in the base and binder course of the new A34; 28mm HMB
base (35 pen) and 20mm HMB binder course (35 pen) respectively.

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 Box 4.3 Recycling and Reclaimed Asphalt use by Tayside Contracts
Tayside Contracts is the commercial arm of Perth & Kinross, Angus and
Dundee City Councils. They provide a range of services for the councils,
including cleaning, catering, road, vehicle and winter maintenance. They
have obtained capital support from WRAP for equipment to enable them to
recycle their arisings from road works, including screening facilities at five
depots, with the potential to process 72,000 tonnes per year. Some 30,000
to 40,000 tonnes per year is used as unbound granular material for general
fill, Type 1 sub-base, pipe bedding and drainage and filter media. This is
mainly used by the councils and developers in housing estates.

Tayside has also invested, with the aid of WRAP, in recycling asphalt
planings back into new hot asphalt at their asphalt plant at Collace Quarry,
between Perth and Coupar Angus. At present all of the asphalt produced
from this plant contains 10% reclaimed asphalt. Tayside believe that with
extra developments in storage to keep the planings dry, they could
increase the reclaimed content to 20%. This high level recycling is in line
with the waste hierarchy and represents a more sustainable use of the
recycled materials than using them only in relatively low value unbound
applications.

Using crack and seat techniques, concrete pavements can be conserved as the
lower base in flexible composite construction or as the sub-base for a new pavement.
Continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCP) can be converted to become
the base with a strengthening flexible overlay. Jointed concrete pavements can be
converted to function as a lower base with a strengthening flexible overlay of
adequate thickness to inhibit the formation of reflection cracks over joints. Further
advice is given in HD 30/99.

Box 4.4 Use of Crack and Seat on Local Authority Road

Barnstable District Council in Devon has successfully used the crack and seat
technique on the A361. It was used to incorporate the existing concrete pavement
as an integral part of the new pavement construction.

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 Box 4.5 Cold Recycling ex-situ and in-situ in the London Borough of
Merton
Experience of highway maintenance in the London Borough of Merton has
shown that cold recycled bitumen bound material produced ex situ using
the ‘Foamix’ process is effective for general maintenance work. The
material uses asphalt planings mixed with foamed bitumen under
controlled conditions. The material was initially used for bitumen bound
base and binder course layers in carriageways, and was later extended to
footways, patching and trench reinstatement

The largest contract to date using this ex situ technique was the full
reconstruction of 3500 m2 of carriageway in Somerset Road in Wimbledon,
outside the All England Lawn Tennis Club. The road was reconstructed to
a depth of 235 mm, comprising 200 mm of Foamix and 35 mm of Stone
Mastic Asphalt. In total the works took 8 days to complete. For this
scheme, 10% of recycled glass was added to the Foamix and the road has
performed well since the works were carried out.

The cost for using cold recycled bitumen bound material was marginally
cheaper than full reconstruction using conventional methods. However, the
method has a number of other advantages that combine with the cost
saving to make it significantly more attractive than conventional repairs.

The London Borough of Merton has carried out one contract using cold in
situ recycling, for the reconstruction of Church Road, Mitcham in 1999. The
project was successful, with savings of 30% in costs and 50% in time.
2,500 tonnes of aggregate were recycled in situ, saving 250 lorry journeys.
However, in situ recycling is often not possible in urban areas because of
shallow services or restrictions on space and time available for the works.
Ex situ cold recycling has proved more generally applicable for highway
maintenance, but in situ recycling will be appropriate in certain
circumstances.

The London Borough of Merton has also been using the ‘Rhinopatch’ and
‘Rhinopave’ methods for repairing bituminous materials for three years.
These methods involve less disturbance to residents than conventional
methods, and hence they can be carried out at night in some areas. This in
turn reduces disturbance to busy urban areas during the day. These
techniques are now used for the majority of patch repairs in the borough.

Overall, the London Borough of Merton has found that recycling is cheaper
than conventional methods, reduces disruption, improves quality, enables
the use of other recycled materials such as glass that would otherwise
have to be disposed of, and increases the sustainability of their highway
operations. The case study can be downloaded from
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/2689_in_situ_and.html.

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 Box 4.6 Cold Recycled Asphalt in Footway Repairs for Edinburgh City
Council
Repairs to Frogston Road, Edinburgh were carried out in October 2001 for
Edinburgh City Council by Linear Quarry Products. The work involved
footpath resurfacing and edge reconstruction. Some 250 tonnes of asphalt
planings were used with a foamed bitumen binder. The planings were
obtained from a council roads depot. Cement was added to the mix to
enable a rapid development of strength because wet weather was
forecast, and this proved very successful as heavy overnight rain had no
effect on the surface so long as the material was well compacted. Normally
lime rather than cement would have been used for footway applications,
giving the material a longer shelf life. Oven cured stiffness values of 2400
to 3000 MPa were obtained, well above the minimum required for a
footway.

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4.4 Earthworks
Earthworks may be required in Local Authority highway maintenance from time to
time, particularly for situations such as repairs to existing cutting or embankment
slopes that have failed, or where new construction is required. There are a number of
opportunities for sustainable choice of materials in these situations.

Slope failures are particularly likely to occur where steep slopes have been
constructed in clay soils. These may be stable in the short term, due to the high
undrained strength of the clays, but over time the clays soften and tend towards the
drained condition, which has lower strength, and failures may start to occur on slopes
of more than 2m or so in height. This type of failure is more common on the trunk
road and motorway network (Perry, 1989), where earthwork slopes tend to be much
higher than on most Local Authority roads and are often at slopes of 1:2.5 or steeper.
The main formations in which these failures occur are overconsolidated clays such
as the London Clay, Gault Clay, Oxford Clay and Lower Lias Clays in the South and
East of England. Failures can occur, however, in any soils where the slopes are
constructed at too steep an angle and where groundwater or other conditions are
adverse. In some areas this is compounded by natural instability and land slipping of
the entire hillside. In some cases this can lead to closure of the road, e.g. the A625 at
Mam Tor (Department of the Environment, 1994).

Where slope failures occur, the usual methods of repair are:

• Replace the failed material with high strength, free-draining granular material;
• Construct a reinforced soil with layers of geotextiles; this allows reuse of the
existing soil, if necessary treated with lime to dry it out;
• Regrade the slope to a more stable angle, using either the existing soil or
imported material; this may involve additional land take.

Specialist techniques such as soil nailing may be used where it is economically

advantageous to do so, i.e. to retain a steep slope. Methods of repair for
infrastructure embankments are given in Perry, Pedley and Reid (2003) and for
cuttings in Perry, Pedley and Brady (2003).

Where it is decided to replace the failed material with high strength, free-draining
granular material it may be appropriate to use recycled aggregates, especially where
primary aggregates are not readily available, e.g. in the South and East of England.
Recycled aggregate, derived from crushed and screened construction, demolition
and excavation waste is particularly suitable, as it is widely available in and around
most urban areas and may be cheaper than equivalent primary aggregates. An
example from Hampshire is given in Box 4.6.

New construction: where new roads are required, for example in new housing,
industrial or mixed use developments, there are opportunities for use of recycled or
secondary materials in place of primary materials as indicated in the previous
sections of this chapter. There may also be opportunities to retain earthworks
materials on site, by treating them with lime or cement, instead of sending them to
landfill and importing primary aggregates. This can also reduce the need for imported
capping or sub-base materials. As it becomes more expensive to ‘dig and dump’, this
option is becoming increasingly attractive. It can also be used to enable earthworks
to be carried out beyond the normal earthworks season, thus preventing delays in the
programme. An example is given in Box 4.7.

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 Box 4.7 Stabilisation of a Weak Clay Embankment in Hampshire
Embankment stabilisation was required on the A325 between the junction
of the B3006 at Sleaford and north to the Hampshire county boundary at
Holt Pond. The work covered a distance of about 1.8km. The embankment
was previously made up of poor quality clay. The embankment was dug
out in benches and the excavated material was replaced with Class 6F5
selected granular fill. Recycled aggregate obtained from processing inert
construction and demolition waste was used as the Class 6F5 material.
The embankment ranged from 0.8 m to 5.0 m in height and the works
required a total of 29,000 tonnes of imported fill. The new embankment
was built at a uniform slope of 1:3.

The recycled aggregates performed as well as primary aggregates and

had the added benefits of reduced haulage distances, savings in CO2
emissions and lower costs. More details are available at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/a325_major.html.

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 Box 4.8 Soil Stabilisation in the North Popley Development,
Basingstoke
North Popley is a new, mixed development site near Basingstoke,
comprising residential units, a school and sports facilities. The site owners,
Hampshire County Council, are carrying out preliminary infrastructure
works to provide a spine road and services across the site. Contract 1 of
the works entailed constructing 250m of 6.1m wide single carriageway
access road and footways for a new secondary school.

The site is underlain by Chalk, and it was decided to stabilise this by the
addition of 2% ordinary cement to form cement bound sub-base. The
contractor, Envirosoil, treated a 225 mm thickness of Chalk in-situ using
rotovating plant. Cement stabilised Chalk was also used as sub-base for
200m of footway and as backfill in trenches for the drains, but in these
instances the Chalk was excavated, treated ex-situ and compacted into
place. The Chalk above sub-base level was excavated and reused as
general fill. In all, over 1,000 m3 of Chalk that would otherwise have been
disposed to landfill and replaced with imported aggregates was retained on
site.

More details available at

http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/north_popley.html.

4.5 Streetworks
In urban areas no road remains undisturbed for long; one statutory undertaker or
another is always coming along and digging it up for the purposes of maintaining or
repairing existing services or installing new ones. These operations are governed by
the Specification for the Reinstatement of Highways (or Roads in Scotland), which is
described in more detail in Chapter 8.3.3. Arisings from utility excavations are
generally a mixture of natural soils, asphalt and unbound sub-base, often wet and
intimately mixed (Figure 4.2). It is not generally possible to reuse these materials in
the excavation, but rather than disposing of them to landfill they can be sent to a

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recycling centre where they can be sorted, treated as necessary and reused as
backfill for future excavations. A ‘closed loop’ system can thus be set up, enabling
beneficial reuse of nearly all the excavated materials (Box 4.8).

Figure 4.2 Typical Arisings from Utility Excavations

In addition to reuse of arisings as unbound backfill, it is possible to use additives

such as cement, lime or proprietary compounds to treat silty or cohesive materials to
render them suitable for use as backfill. An example of the use of cement and PFA to
treat clay arisings from the West Midlands to create a cementitious backfill is given
by Ghataora et al. (2006). The material was monitored over a period of one year and
settled less than control trenches with granular backfill. The settlements of both sets
of trenches were within the permissible limits of the Specification for the
Reinstatement of Highways and did not require any subsequent intervention
measures.

WRAP has produced a guide to the use of recycled and stabilised materials in trench
reinstatement (WRAP, 20070, which is available at
http://www.wrap.org.uk/construction/construction_waste_minimisation_and_manage
ment/utilities.html. This contains exemplar information and case study evidence and
is aimed at local authorities, utility companies and their supply chains.

The key to effective recycling of streetworks arisings is segregation of materials; if

this can be done on site, it will be much easier to achieve high value reuse of the
materials in subsequent backfill applications. As far as possible, asphalt, concrete,
unbound aggregates and subsoil should be kept separate; it is very difficult to
separate them once they are mixed (Figure 4.2).

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 Box 4.9 Severn Trent Network’s Closed Loop Recycling Experience in
the West Midlands
The Networks repair and maintenance section within Severn Trent Water
excavate on average 300 separate holes a day across a wide geographical
area. The geographical area that Networks operate in is covered by 9
county based field service depots. The spoil from these excavations used
to go to landfill, with primary aggregates used to backfill the excavations. In
1997 Severn Trent reviewed their operations and decided they had to
move to a more environmentally friendly and cost efficient way of dealing
with their spoil and began developing with its contractors a ‘closed loop’
system of recycling as much as possible of the excavated material.

The Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways Second

Edition 2002 (the HAUC Specification) was used. This allows recycled,
secondary or primary materials, or any combination thereof, provided they
meet the performance requirements and any compositional requirements
detailed in the Specification for the relevant material layer (Clause S1.6.2).
The specification was developed with the active support and
encouragement from the West Midlands Highway Authority Utilities
Committee with support from Staffordshire Laboratories. There were no
significant technical barriers to substituting Recycled S5.1.2 Class A –
Graded Granular materials for primary Clause 803 Granular Sub base
material Type 1. A rigorous monitoring regime by the West Midlands
Highway Authority Utilities Committee, and contracted monitoring teams
from Staffordshire Labs and Halcrow has ensured that the correct material
specification is maintained in practice which ensures that Severn Trent
Networks can be confident that the Recycled S5.1.2 Class A – Graded
Granular materials will perform properly during and after maintenance or
new build operations have taken place.

The ‘closed loop’ system has been operating since 1997 and has led to
significant savings in materials and costs, by the avoidance of landfill
charges and haulage, as well as environmental benefits. More details are
available at http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/severn_trent.html.

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5 Recycled highway materials

5.1 Reuse and recycling

In sustainability terms, reuse of the arisings from highway maintenance works either
back into the same works or in other applications in the highway should always be
the first option. The previous chapter has indicated the materials generally permitted
in the various layers of the pavement and the techniques available for recycling them.
This chapter summarises the opportunities for different materials obtained from these
maintenance activities. Table 5.1 is a summary table, for using the materials found in
the pavement, and indicates the requirements either for recycling and using in the
same application or the processing requirements for use in a new application.

Table 5.1 Summary Table for Recycled Highway Materials

Material Recycle in- Excavate, process and use Method of
situ/ex-situ for new application reprocessing
in same
application
Bituminous Yes Keep separate from other Screening
bound bituminous layers to enable
materials: use as reclaimed asphalt in
surface new hot mix for surface
course course; otherwise use as for
base and binder course
materials
Bituminous Yes Reclaimed asphalt in new Crushing and
bound hot mix, coarse aggregate in screening
materials: HBM, unbound sub-base
base and Type 1 or 2, capping Class
binder course 6F3, hardstanding for site
offices, unsurfaced roads
Tar bound Cold recycling If to be disposed of, has to In-situ or ex-
materials only be to hazardous waste situ cold
landfill recycling;
records must
be kept
Unreinforced Re-use as Re-use as aggregate for Crushing,
and aggregate in pipe bedding, embankment screening,
reinforced concrete. and fill, capping, unbound removal of
concrete, sub-base, hydraulically contaminants
concrete bound mixtures and and
blocks and bituminous layers. reinforcement
pipes
Hydraulic Re-use as Re-use as aggregate for Crushing and
bound aggregate in pipe bedding, embankment screening
materials hydraulic and fill, capping, unbound
bound sub-base, hydraulically
mixtures. bound mixtures or
bituminous layers.

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Material Recycle in- Excavate, process and use Method of
situ/ex-situ for new application reprocessing
in same
application
Wet mix / dry Not now used Re-use as aggregate for Screening
bound pipe bedding, embankment
macadam and fill, capping, unbound
sub-base, hydraulically
bound mixtures, concrete or
bituminous layers.
Unbound sub- Yes Unbound capping, other Screening
base Class 6 structural fills, can
materials incorporate with overlying
asphalt layers for cold in-situ
recycling
Capping Use as fill Screening
Subgrade Yes May be stabilised with Mixing and
cement and/or lime as compaction
capping or sub-base.
Drainage May be re- Use for other general or Washing/
bedding etc used if special fill applications if screening
materials material still material meets the
Fill to meets requirements of the Recompacted
structures requirements specification
General fills of the Recompacted
Landscaping specification Not generally suitable for Screening
materials other applications
Natural stone May be re- Aggregate – various uses Crushing and
used screening
Kerbs May be re- Reuse as Recycled Crushing and
used if Concrete Aggregates (RCA) screening
undamaged in a variety of applications,
including unbound sub-base
Line marking Re-used Removal by flailing or Drying out
material when water planing with the surfacing and new
jetted to results in the line marking ingredients
remove material being used with the added
existing recycled surfacing.
material

5.2 Waste Management Regulations and disposal of materials

All material that is excavated during highway works has the potential to be waste,
even if it is reused on site or sent for recycling or recovery, and may be classed as a
waste and be subject to the Waste Management Regulations. Waste is defined in the
European Union Framework Directive on Waste (91/156/EEC) as follows: “Waste
means any substance or object ….. which the holder discards or intends or is
required to discard”. The term ‘discard’ is interpreted widely and does not just include
materials that would ordinarily be thought of as being ‘thrown away’. Waste is thus
defined not by its nature or properties but by the intention of the holder. “Holder” is
defined as the producer of the waste or the person who is in possession of it; and the
“producer” is anyone whose activities produce waste or anyone who carries out pre-
processing, mixing or other operations resulting in a change in the nature or
composition of this waste.

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The owner, producer and handler of the waste have a Duty of Care under the
Environmental Protection Act 1990, reinforced by the Clean Neighbourhoods and
Environment Act 2005 to ensure that the waste is handled safely and does not
present a threat to human health or the environment. This includes ensuring that the
waste has a transfer note identifying what it is under the European Waste Catalogue,
ensuring that it is handled by registered waste carriers and that it is delivered to a site
that is properly licensed to treat and receive it. Although the actual work will generally
be carried out by subcontractors, the Local Authority still has a Duty of Care to
ensure that the waste is handled and disposed of responsibly. Guidance is available
at www.netregs.gov.uk and in the Waste Management Regulations module of the
AggRegain web site (www.aggregain.org.uk).

In England and Wales the Environment Agency adopts a regulatory risk based
approach, such that activities that pose a high risk are heavily regulated and those
that pose a low risk are less heavily regulated. Engineers should liaise with their local
Environment Agency area office to seek advice on the need for waste controls, and
to ensure the need for licenses, exemptions etc are recognised at the early stages of
any project or maintenance programme.

It is also important to note the difference between recycled materials and materials
which have been recovered and cease to be waste. The use of recycled or
secondary aggregates may still be subject to waste controls unless they have been
fully recovered, for example in accordance with the WRAP Quality Protocol for the
production of aggregates from inert waste. It is important to check that aggregate
producers who supply aggregates based on the Quality Protocol are applying it
properly, and not using it as a cover for waste disposal rather than aggregate
manufacture. This falls under the Duty of Care requirements described above

If the pavement materials cannot be re-used on site or on another site using the
methods indicated in Table 5.1 then a means of disposal has to be found. This will
incur a cost. The usual methods of disposal are to send the material to a landfill site
or to a site exempt from the Waste Management Licensing Regulations where the
material can be used for land reclamation. It is becoming increasingly expensive to
send material to landfill, particularly if it is non-inert, and the regulations associated
with exempt sites have become increasingly strict in recent years, with the
introduction of revisions to Clauses 9 & 19 exempt sites, the most commonly used
ones, in July 2005. Summaries of the implications of these changes can be found on
the Waste Management Regulations module of the AggRegain web site at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk.

Waste is categorised into three classes: inert; non hazardous and hazardous. Much
of the arisings from highway maintenance and construction work will generally be
classed as inert waste, e.g. asphalt planings, concrete kerbs and pavements, sub-
base and capping and subsoil. However, if the material contains biodegradable
materials such as organic matter, timber, paper or material such as plastics or metals,
it will be classed as non hazardous or ‘active’ waste. This attracts a much higher
landfill tax (£32/tonne from April 2008, rising at £8/year, compared to £2.50/tonne for
inert waste) and is much more expensive to dispose of to landfill.

Hazardous waste is not likely to be encountered in most routine highway

maintenance works, which generally only affect the near-surface layers. An exception
is the occurrence of tar in old asphalt pavements. Tar is a generic term for a group of
organic compounds produced as a by-product of the distillation of coal to produce
gas in the days before the discovery of natural gas in the North Sea. It includes

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compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are now known
to be carcinogenic, and hence it is classed as hazardous waste. Tar was widely used
in roads in place of bitumen up to the early 1970s, and may still be encountered in
old pavements when they are excavated as part of maintenance works. It is
recognised by its pungent smell. Site testing equipment using an aerosol spray (PAC
Marker) can be used to identify the extent of material contaminated by tar; if more
detailed quantification is required, samples should be sent for chemical analysis.

As a hazardous waste, tar can only be sent to landfills licensed to accept such
materials. With the implementation of the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations
2002 and similar 2003 Regulations in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the number of
hazardous waste landfills has decreased dramatically and it is now very expensive to
send material to a hazardous waste landfill. Also, many areas of the UK, such as
Scotland and the South East of England, now have no hazardous waste landfills and
there are significant transport costs in sending material to landfills in other regions. It
is not permitted to recycle asphalt containing tar in a hot recycling process, because
this will volatilise the carcinogenic compounds and put plant workers and the public
at risk.

However, it may be permissible to use cold recycling techniques to encapsulate the

tar compounds in a new road construction, using in-situ or ex-situ techniques. The
contaminated material is then safely stored in an engineered form where it is not
accessible to the environment. Where this is done, it is essential that records should
be kept identifying the areas containing tar. This can be done as part of a Pavement
Management System (PMS), so that the information is available in the future when
further maintenance may be required. Recycling the material containing tar on site
will lead to very significant savings by avoiding charges for disposing of the material
to a landfill site licensed to receive hazardous waste. The County Surveyors Society
(CSS) is producing guidance for Local Authorities on how to dispose of tar-bearing
materials.

Box 5.1 Ex-situ Stabilisation of Asphalt Containing Tar using Foamed

Bitumen
A major ex-situ cold recycling contract was carried out for the Highways
Agency on the A38: Peartree to Drybridge in Devon between September
2005 and March 2006
(http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/a38_exsitu.html). Some 70,000
tonnes of the existing asphalt pavement were recycled using foamed
bitumen as the binder. Towards the end of the contract, tar was discovered
in some sections of the existing road pavement. The recycling
subcontractor, Roadstone Recycling, proposed to the Environment Agency
that the best way to deal with this material was to treat it by the cold
recycling process and replace it in the road. This was accepted by the
Environment Agency and the material was treated and placed back in the
road in the same way as for the rest of the work, with a new surface course
on top of the cold recycled layers.

In new construction projects and maintenance operations it is possible that other

materials classed as hazardous wastes may be encountered, in particular
contaminated soils in urban areas. Appropriate ground investigation works should
always be carried out in advance of new construction or major maintenance projects
to identify any potential contaminated materials so that an appropriate strategy for
dealing with them can be developed in advance of the works. If contaminated

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materials (including tar) are discovered, discussion should be held with the regulatory
authorities (Environment Agency in England and Wales, Scottish Environment
Protection Agency in Scotland, Waste Management and Contaminated Land
Inspectorate of the Environment and Heritage Service, an Agency of the Northern
Ireland Department of the Environment) at an early stage to agree a strategy for
dealing with them.

The methods of disposal for different arisings are summarised in Table 5.2.

Table 5.2 Methods of Disposal of Materials Derived from the Pavement

Material Disposal
Tar is a hazardous waste and must go to
Tar bound materials
a hazardous waste landfill
Bituminous bound materials
Unreinforced and reinforced
concrete, concrete blocks and pipes
Hydraulic bound materials
Wet mix / dry bound macadam If the material does not contain tar or
Unbound sub-base materials other contaminants it will generally be
Capping materials classed as an inert waste and can be
Subgrade sent to a WML exempt site or landfill
Vitrified clay pipes, clay pavers registered to accept inert waste.
Natural stone
Drainage bedding etc materials
Fill to structures
General fills
Glass reinforced plastic pipes
Iron pipes and furniture
Generally classed as a non-hazardous
PVC-U, PP, PE pipes
waste and should be sent to a landfill
Corrugated steel pipes
registered to accept such material.
Rubber
Plastic
May be classed as non-hazardous if
Landscaping materials
contains organic matter
Will generally be classed as non-
hazardous (active) waste. May need to
Topsoil
check for contamination if from
brownfield site
Yellow markings contain lead chromate
whilst white markings contain titanium.
Line marking material
Will be classed as non-hazardous
(active) waste

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6. Recycled and Secondary Materials

6.1 General comments

In addition to materials recovered from the road itself in the course of maintenance
activities, it is possible to use a wide range of recycled or secondary aggregates in
place of primary aggregates for many applications in maintenance and new
construction. The possibilities for using these materials are summarised in Table 6.1
and the individual materials are described in more detail below. It is also possible to
use in-situ stabilisation of soils with lime or cement as an alternative to importing
capping materials; guidance is given in HA74/07 in the DMRB.

HD35/04 of the DMRB indicates the wide range of secondary and recycled materials
that may be utilised in construction for trunk roads and motorways. These are also
appropriate for many Local Authority roads. The applications considered for these
materials are pipe bedding, embankment and fill, capping, unbound mixtures for sub-
base, hydraulically bound mixtures for sub-base and base, bitumen bound layers and
pavement quality concrete. HD35 also indicates factors that need considering when
utilising secondary and recycled materials for these applications. These include:

• The water soluble sulphate level of materials used for drainage.

• Hazardous chemicals resulting in leachate or poor physical properties for
earthwork materials.
• When using recycled rubber (shredded tyre or tyre bales) as fill, the potential
for combustion.
• Unweathered steel slag may expand when hydration occurs due to the
presence of free lime and/or free magnesia.
• Determination of the moisture content of asphalt planings can be difficult and
needs specific consideration.
• The possibility of expansive chemical reactions need considering when using
gypsum as a binder in hydraulic bound materials.

As a general rule no recycled/secondary materials are allowed in an exposed

aggregate concrete surface (see Series 1001 (Clause 6) and 1044 of SHW).
However, some materials, such as blast furnace slag, pulverised-fuel ash and
recycled concrete aggregate (“crushed concrete”) have been widely used in
pavement quality concrete (PQC) for many years and are specifically permitted in the
Specification for Highway Works and other specifications. Others are restricted to
specific areas, such as slate aggregate in North Wales or China Clay sand in
Cornwall. The origin and availability of materials is summarised in Table 6.1.

Quality control is important for all aggregates, and a system of factory production
control is required under recent harmonised European Standards for aggregates.
This is particularly important for recycled and secondary aggregates, where the client
may need particular reassurance that the materials will be consistent and fit for
purpose. The WRAP Quality Protocol for the production of aggregates from inert
waste provides this reassurance, and clients should ensure that their suppliers are
producing recycled aggregates in accordance with the protocol. Waste protocols for a
number of secondary materials are currently being produced by the Environment
Agency and WRAP, and will provide similar reassurance for these materials. Details
are available at http://www.environment-
agency.gov.uk/subjects/waste/1019330/1334884/?lang=_e.

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Materials for which protocols are available or in progress are indicated in Table 6.1.

In some cases there may be concern about environmental issues with the use of
particular materials, especially in unbound applications. These are summarised in
Table 6.1 and discussed in the sections on the individual materials below.

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Table 6.1 Summary Table for Recycled and Secondary Materials in HD35
Material Origin and Processing Applications: SHW Waste Management Environmental
availability requirements Series Regulations Issues
Blast furnace slag Produced from the Crushing and 500, 600, 800, 900, Now classed as a by In unbound
manufacture of pig screening 1000 product not a waste applications risk of
iron in a blast furnace. pollution from
Current production is leaching of lime and
3mt/a but is declining sulphur compounds.
Burnt colliery spoil Residue from coal Crushing and 600, 800 Susceptible to frost
mining. Current screening and may contain
production of 7.5mt/a high concentrations
but likely to decline. of sulfates limiting its
use in bound and
unbound
applications.
China clay Residue from the Sand- grading and 500, 600, 800, 900, Transporting the
sand/stent extraction of china washing. Stent – 1000 material from its
clay in Cornwall. crushing, grading source in the west
22.6mt/a arisings and and washing. country.
600mt stockpiled.
Coal fly ash / Residue from coal May be 500, 600, 800, 900, Waste protocol being In unbound
Pulverised fuel ash burning power conditioned (water 1000 developed by applications there is
(CFA / PFA) stations. 5mt/a added) WRAP/EA. a risk of leaching of
arisings and 50mt some contaminants.
stockpiled.
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Foundry sand Residue of the metal 500, 600, 800, 900, May be
casting industry. 1000 contaminated with
Current production is organic compounds
1mt/a. such as phenols,
therefore potential
for leaching in
unbound
applications.
Furnace bottom ash Residue from coal Largely used in 500, 600, 800
(FBA) burning power block-making
stations. Currently industry.
1mt/a arisings.
Incinerator bottom Residue from the Metal extraction, 500, 600, 800, 900, Unweathered IBA may Concerns of leaching
ash aggregate combustion of screening, removal 1000 be hazardous waste; in unbound
(IBAA) municipal solid waste of unburnt organic weathered IBA likely to applications. Need to
in incinerators. matter and be active waste, not consider possibility
Currently production weathering for at inert. A waste protocol of ASR in cement
is 1.35mt/a and least 3 months. is being produced by bound applications.
expected to increase. WRAP/EA.
Phosphoric slag Residue of the 500, 600, 800, 900,
phosphorus making 1000
process. Imported
into South East
England.

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Recycled aggregate Processed from Crushing, 500, 600, 800, 900, Classed as inert waste If material contains a
construction screening, removal 1000 if not produced to the high percentage of
demolition and of contaminants WRAP quality protocol crushed concrete the
excavation waste such as paper, for the production of leachate may have
Approx. 40mt/a in wood, metal, clay, aggregates from inert high pH and this may
England and 4mt/a in plasterboard, etc, waste. limit its use below
Scotland Exemption or WML the water table in
required if not environmentally
produced in sensitive locations.
accordance with the Crushed brick may
protocol. be susceptible to
frost heave and
gypsum plaster may
result in high sulfate
content.
Recycled asphalt Asphalt planed from Crushing, 500, 600, 800, 900, Covered by WRAP Cold foam mix may
highways and screening and 1000 Quality Protocol for not perform well in
pavements 5mt/a removal of inert waste. cold or wet laying
arisings. Currently at contaminants conditions.
least 90% is re-used.
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Recycled concrete From a number of Crushing, 500, 600, 800, 900, Covered by WRAP When re-used in
aggregate sources including the screening, removal 1000 Quality Protocol for concrete high
demolition of roads of contaminants. inert waste. chloride content can
and runways, corrode the steel
concrete structures, reinforcement, whilst
precast concrete high sulphate
process wastes. content can disrupt
the cement paste.
In unbound
applications the
leachate may have
high pH and this may
limit its use below
the water table in
environmentally
sensitive locations
Recycled glass Obtained from Crushing, and 500, 600, 800, 900 Waste protocol being For cement bound
crushing glass screening developed by applications need to
products as fine or WRAP/EA for flat consider the risk of
coarse aggregate. glass. Ordinary glass ASR.
is covered by the
Quality Protocol for the
production of
aggregates from inert
waste.
Slate aggregate Residue from the Crushed and 500, 600, 800, 900, Inert material, None
production of slate for screened to fit 1000 exemption or WML not
roof tiles, principally in grading required for use.
North Wales. requirements. Requires experience
Stockpile of approx. in compaction
466mt and 6.3mt/a because of particle
arisings. shape

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Spent oil shale The residue from the 600, 800 High sulphate
oil extraction industry content may cause
occurs mainly in the attack to
Lothian region of construction
Scotland. materials but unlikely
Approximately 100mt to be an
stockpiled, no current environmental risk.
arisings. May be frost
susceptible.
Steel slag Residue of steel Must be fully 500, 600, 800, 900 Classed as non-inert Should not be used
production. Current weathered before Coarse aggregate in waste. below the water
arisings only in South use or will undergo surface course and A waste protocol is table as leachate
Wales, Lincolnshire, expansive surface dressing; being developed by can have high pH,
Humberside, and the reactions. aggregate has high WRAP/EA. alkalinity, metals and
NE of England approx skid resistance. sulfate.
4mt/a.
Unburnt colliery spoil Residue from coal 600, 800 If used in unbound
mining. Used as general fill or applications can
aggregate in HBM but produce leachate
not as selected fill or with low pH, high
unbound sub-base. sulfate, iron and
other metals, leading
to precipitation of
ochre in water
courses.
All materials detailed in the table above are exempt from the Aggregate Levy.
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6.2 Materials in HD 35
The following secondary and recycled materials are considered in HD35.

6.2.1 Blast furnace slag

Blast furnace slag (BFS) is a residue obtained from the manufacture of pig iron in a
blast furnace. The slag occurs as a molten liquid and is mainly composed of silicates
and oxides that solidify upon cooling. If the slag is left to cool slowly in the open air, a
crystallized slag, suitable for crushing, is produced. This is known as air cooled blast
furnace slag. If the slag is cooled quickly by water or water and air, vitrified slags are
produced called granulated slag and pelletized slag (O’Flaherty, 1988). This can be
ground to produce ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). Dunster (2001)
provides information on some frequently asked questions, together with sources of
further help on codes and standards relevant to the production, testing and use of
slag products. The current production of BFS is about 3 million tonnes per annum
(mt/a) with increased amounts of GGBS representing about 75% of the BFS
production. However, the production of BFS is declining due to trends in steel
production in the UK (AggRegain, 2004a).

BFS is permitted for use in all applications. When used in unbound applications
below the ground water level, the risks of pollution and corrosion of metals from
potential leaching of lime and sulfur compounds from the slag need consideration.
However, BFS is too valuable an aggregate to be used in unbound applications and
is more likely to be used as aggregate in asphalt or concrete. When used as
aggregate in asphalt, BFS has many advantages associated with its relatively porous
nature and rough surface texture that improves the bond with the bitumen binder.
BFS is fully utilised in the UK as aggregate, principally in asphalt with well
established experience and specifications (Hassan et al., 2004a). The highest value
application of slag is probably in the concrete industry as a cement replacement in
concrete (GGBS) and as a binder in slag bound mixtures, with many successful
applications in the UK and abroad (Nunn and Hassan, 2004). Following a European
Court ruling in 2007, BFS is now considered to be a by product rather than a waste,
hence a waste management licence or exemption is not required for its use in
construction projects.

6.2.2 Burnt colliery spoil

Colliery spoil deposits are residues from coal mining, and are composed of quartz,
mica and clay minerals as well as small quantities of pyrites and carbonates of
calcium, magnesium and iron. The spoil tips are highly variable in composition as
combustion changes the physical and chemical properties of the materials. The
current production of colliery spoil is about 7.5mt/a, however, this is likely to decline
with the reduced use of coals and cheap imports (AggRegain, 2004a).

Burnt spoils are usually susceptible to frost when used in the top 450mm layers from
the pavement surface, consequently, it is not deemed suitable in the bound layers.
The material is relatively weak compared to primary aggregate and could contain
high concentrations of sulfates, limiting its use in unbound applications because of
the risk of corrosion of concrete or structural metallic items. If used as general fill,
there may also be a risk of pollution of watercourses from iron hydroxides (ochre),
heavy metals, acidity and sulfates. Colliery spoil has been successfully used as a
bulk fill material. In the 1970s, about 8mt/a was used in motorway construction in the

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UK. Well-burnt spoil is permitted for use as fill material provided it meets the
requirements of the specification (Nicholls et al., 2004).

6.2.3 China clay sand/stent

China clay sand/stent are residues from the extraction of china clay and are available
in large quantities, approximately 22.6mt/a arisings and 600mt stockpiled in Cornwall.
China clay sand is mainly composed of quartz and fine particles of mica and only
needs to undergo the same basic grading and washing processes as other primary
aggregate, before using. Technically, china clay sand is an inert material and suitable
to replace primary aggregate in all bound and unbound applications.

Stent is a coarser material, ranging up to boulders, of undecomposed granite. Stent

could be used but has less consistency than the sand. Crushed stent has been used
as coarse aggregate in a concrete slab for a household waste recycling centre at
Okehampton, in Devon (available at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/recycled_and_1.html). Unprocessed stent
can be used as general fill.

China clay sand has been used with considerable success as bulk fill for earth works,
however, compaction difficulties may arise, due to the presence of mica, but this will
not necessarily have an adverse effect on the final compaction (Nicholls et al., 2004).
In bound applications, china clay sand is permitted for use in bitumen bound material,
hydraulically bound material and concrete provided that it meets the necessary
grading requirements. Adjustment of the mixture design may be considered to
accommodate a variable grading and particle shape in the material.

The main problem with the wider utilisation of the material is transport, as it is
produced and used in localised areas. Some china clay sand is currently exported
from Cornwall by ship to London and Southampton; however, the port facilities in
Cornwall are limited. Improving the efficiency of transporting the material to market
would significantly increase its use in the construction industry.

6.2.4 Coal fly ash (Pulverised-fuel ash) and furnace bottom ash
Coal-burning power stations produce two residues; fly ash and furnace bottom ash.
The fly ash, also known as pulverised-fuel ash (PFA), has fine particles and is
collected by precipitation from the flue gases in the furnaces, whereas the furnace
bottom ash is of coarser particles and is obtained from the bottom of the furnaces.
The current production of fly ash and furnace bottom ash is 5mt/a and 1mt/a,
respectively. There are also large stockpiles of fly ash exceeding 50mt. The
production of both materials is likely to decline in the long term with the increased
use of other fuels, such as natural gas and nuclear, in generating electricity. The
current use of imported coal could also affect the physical and chemical properties of
the ash, and consequently its utilisation levels.

Fly ash can be used for all applications, with the exception of unbound sub-base.
When used in upper unbound layers, the grain and particle size of fly ash make it
difficult to compact as it behaves in a similar manner to silt, requiring protection
during wet conditions (Nicholls et al., 2004). Guidance on the use of fly ash as
general fill is given by Winter and Clark (2001). The hardening properties of the
material give more added value when used as a binder in hydraulically bound
mixtures and concrete.

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Furnace bottom ash has a porous nature, is lightweight and has some mechanical
weakness that might limit its use in unbound and bound applications. Specifications
exclude furnace bottom ash from use in unbound mixtures, bitumen bound and
pavement quality concrete but permit the use in hydraulically bound mixtures.
However, the material is fully utilised in the block making industry.

6.2.5 Foundry sand

Foundry sand is produced in a relatively small quantity of 1mt/a as a residue of the
metal casting industry. It is uniformly graded silty sand. The material could be used in
all bound and unbound applications, but its grading would preclude its use in a
number of applications where well graded materials are required. It should be noted
that foundry sand may contain small amounts of phenols, many of which are toxic.
See the glossary for further information.

Box 6.1 Applications of Foundry Sand in Highways

An example of foundry sand being used in cement bound paving at a
road/rail transfer station was reported on the AggRegain website
(AggRegain, 2004b), where the aggregate consisted of three parts of
foundry sand with one part of incinerator bottom ash. The cement content
was 160kg/m3, and the mixture had a strength of 20N/mm2 at 28 days.

Foundry sand has also been used extensively in the USA for various
pavement applications including pre-cast and foamed concrete (OCAPP,
1999).

Foundry sand has been used by Tarmac Quarry Products Ltd in Poole to
partially replace the fine aggregate in asphalt (AggRegain, 2004c).
Laboratory evaluation confirmed the density, grading and compactability
for use to replace a portion of the fine aggregate in the asphalt
manufacture. The quality of the products made by Tarmac has been
unaffected by using foundry sand with no problems reported after eight
years in service.

6.2.6 Incinerator bottom ash aggregate

Incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA) is the residue of the combustion of
municipal solid waste in incinerator plant (energy from waste) facilities. Several
individual ash streams are produced including grate ash, siftings, boiler ash, scrubber
ash and precipitator ash. The incineration residues mainly contain clinker, glass,
ceramics, metal, and unburnt organic matter. In the UK, current processing of the
material involves only mechanical treatment without chemical processing or washing.
This treatment includes extracting metal, screening, removal of unburnt organic
matters and natural drying (York, 2000). Storage of IBAA for up to 3 months under
controlled conditions is recommended to allow swelling, hydration, carbonation and
oxidation ageing to occur, to improve chemical integrity and structural durability of the
ash. Current production of processed IBAA accounts for about 1.35mt/a and is
expected to rise in future years.

IBAA is permitted for use in all bound and unbound applications within highway
construction, but is not covered by specific provision in the SHW. A laboratory
investigation into the mechanical properties of IBAA such as stiffness and stability,

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obtained by repeated load triaxial testing, suggested potential for use in unbound
applications, although there was a significant variation in the mechanical properties in
terms of seasonal fluctuations and differences between incinerator plants. However,
this variation was not greater than that obtained in a study of natural aggregates
(Arm, 2000). There are some concerns over leaching and therefore the material has
more potential for use in bound applications.

Box 6.2 Use of IBAA in Highways

Several studies have focused on using IBAA as a partial replacement for
natural aggregate in asphalt (Hassan et al., 2004a), (Reid et al., 2006).
Results on asphalt concrete base showed that IBAA can be a suitable
replacement for primary aggregate with no loss of performance. The
relatively higher porosity of IBAA was reported to require additional
bitumen content to achieve identical performance to control mixtures made
with primary aggregate. Other literature indicated that the amount of binder
required has been shown to be similar to that required by natural
aggregate.

IBAA has been successfully used in cement bound mixtures on a 4km by-
pass to Waltham Abbey (Hassan et al., 2004a). However, in concrete with
its higher cement content, the presence of some deleterious materials
could interfere with the functions of concrete, such as glass leading to
alkali-aggregate expansion. This would need to be considered in the
mixture design.

6.2.7 Phosphoric slag

Phosphoric slag is a residue from the phosphorus making process in an electric
furnace. It is mainly imported from Flushing, in the Netherlands, by J Clubb Ltd and is
marketed as Flushing SBM (FSBM). On a dry weight basis this material contains 80
– 90% air-cooled phosphorous slag (APS), 3 – 15% granulated blast furnace slag
(GBS) and 2 – 10% air-cooled steel slag (ASS). FSBM closely resembles Type 1
granular sub-base material and has a similar grading. It may therefore be an
economic proposition in the South East of England. The chemical composition of the
air-cooled phosphoric slag is predominantly mono-calcium silicate. The material has
proved to give good performance in both unbound and bound applications and is
essentially laid as an unbound material by paver or blade and then compacted with a
vibrating roller and finished with a pneumatic tyred roller.

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 Box 6.3 Use of Phosphoric Slag in Highways in Kent
Kent CC has design recommendations for FSBM as road base for traffic
volumes up to 20msa (Kent CC, 1996). A large trial length involving
unbound phosphoric slag in sub-base and road base was incorporated in a
major bypass at Pembury in Kent, constructed in 1987 which performed
well with no reflective cracking and good structural performance (Walsh,
1999). There are no restrictions on the use of phosphoric slag in asphalt. It
could be used successfully in the base layer but, if using it in the surface
course, the material would need to satisfy the end performance
requirements for hardness.

Phosphoric slag was used successfully in a hydraulically bound sub-base

on the A289 Wainscott bypass (Nunn and Hassan, 2004).

6.2.8 Recycled aggregate

The definition of recycled aggregate in the Specification for Highway Works, Clause
601.12 is, “the material shall be aggregate resulting from the processing of material
used in a construction process”. There is a similar definition in BS 8500-1: 2002:
“aggregate resulting from the reprocessing of inorganic material previously used in
construction”.

Construction, demolition and excavation waste that is processed and used as a

substitute for primary aggregates falls into the category of recycled aggregate (RA). It
is widely available in urban areas but to a lesser extent in rural areas. RA covers a
wide range of materials including concrete, masonry and asphalt road materials that
arise from the demolition of buildings, airfield runways and roads. RAs potentially
contain a number of impurities that need to be removed prior to use in high value
applications (Reid, 2004). For most highway applications, a maximum of 1% by
weight is specified for the sum of all impurities (e.g. wood, paper, metal, plastic, glass,
plasterboard, clay) in the Specification for Highway Works. A Quality Protocol for the
production of aggregate from inert waste such as construction, demolition and
excavation waste has been developed by WRAP (2004b), and a test for classifying
the composition is given in Clause 710 of the Specification for Highway Works. The
allowable percentages of impurities for pavement quality concrete are given in BS
8500-2.

Crushed brick can be used as an excellent granular capping material but may be
susceptible to frost heave. If used in the sub-base, RA should consist predominantly
of crushed concrete. Recycled asphalt can also be used as up to 50% of RA (Table
3.3). However, the properties of crushed brick depend on the type of brick and mortar
used. Lime or cement mortar will not be a problem but contamination from a gypsum
plaster might result in a high sulfate content. Brick from chimneys may have
particularly high sulfate content; the National House Building Council Specification
limits the brick content of recycled aggregate to 20% for this reason. RA is permitted
by the SHW for use in all bound and unbound applications in highway construction
except for pavement quality concrete. There is a limit of 1% by mass of foreign
materials (paper, wood, metal, etc.) and for some classes there are limits on the
asphalt content, but there are no restrictions on the brick content. The RA will,
however, have to meet all the Specification requirements for the application.

The SHW (Series 1001, Clause 10) states that where recycled coarse aggregate is
used in concrete pavement construction, only crushed concrete resulting from
reclamation or processing of concrete previously used in construction which

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originates from appropriate identified structures with a known history of use shall be
used.

6.2.9 Reclaimed asphalt

The material is commonly referred to as recycled asphalt; however, with the
introduction of BS EN 13108-8 in 2005, the correct term is now reclaimed asphalt,
defined as follows: “asphalt reclaimed by milling of asphalt road layers, by crushing of
slabs ripped up from asphalt pavements or lumps from asphalt slabs and asphalt
from reject and surplus production”.

The concept of using existing highways as a linear quarry from which aggregates can
be reclaimed has been gaining support for both environmental and economic
reasons. Most of the recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) is re-used because it is
readily available on site, and is composed of traditional road construction materials.
About 95% of RAP is natural or by-product aggregates and the remaining is bitumen
binder. An OECD survey (OECD, 1997) shows that, among EU member countries, at
least 75% of RAP is reused while in the UK the figure amounts to 90% (Nicholls et al.,
2004).

RAP is permitted by the SHW for all highway construction applications. When used
as unbound granular material, it has additional benefit from the binder (Hassan et al.,
2004a). The majority of RAP is used for hot in-situ recycling, cold in-situ recycling,
ex-situ recycling, sub-base aggregate, capping or fill.

Significant amounts of RAP are incorporated in asphalt, but usually at a lower layer
than those from which it is taken. Up to 50% RAP is currently permitted by the SHW
in hot asphalt mixtures that are for base and binder coarse applications. RAP
mixtures can offer the same durability as mixtures with 100% virgin material (Peters
et al., 1986). However, the mixture design with RAP is more critical than with routine
asphalt mixtures (Nicholls et al., 2004). Up to 10% RAP may be used in the surface
course layer, although higher proportions have been used (e.g. 20% in Rockingham
Road, Corby; see Box 1.4).

There is a harmonised European Standard for RAP, BS EN 13108-8 (CEN, 2004),

Bituminous mixtures, Material specifications, Reclaimed asphalt. It is assumed that
the term “Reclaimed asphalt” will replace the acronym “RAP” in due course, but RAP
will be used in this report because it is more widely understood and to avoid any
confusion of acronyms with recycled aggregate.

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 Box 6.4 Examples of use of Recycled Asphalt in Highways
RAP was used in the Newport Southern distributor road in the capping
layer, and as an unbound sub-base on the M25 Junction 12 – 15
improvement (AggRegain, 2005); in both cases no problems were
identified.

In Norfolk, hot rolled asphalt base and binder course mixtures have been
used with 30% RAP. It has also been used in cold mixtures with foamed
bitumen and cement binders for base and binder courses using 100%
RAP, but for these large percentages the mixture design is important.
Using recycled material produced time savings when haunching rural
roads, with roads only being required to be closed for one week compared
to the normal three to four weeks.

However, cold foam-mix recycling does not perform well in cold conditions
and the use of recycled materials is unsuitable where the edges of the
road are unsupported (AggRegain, 2004d). This technique has been
employed in Hampshire (Reid et al, 2006), but there is a need to employ
an experienced contractor.

The use of RAP in concrete and hydraulically bound mixtures is limited in

the UK, but has been successfully used in other countries. Austrian
experience indicated excellent strength and durability of concrete
pavements made with 10% RAP as aggregate (Sommer, 1998). At a
higher level of 35 %, RAP showed economic benefits in use for hard
shoulder compared to imported natural gravel. BS 8500-2 permits 5% RAP
for use in pavement quality concrete when classed as recycled concrete
aggregate.

6.2.10 Recycled concrete aggregate

Recycled aggregate is defined in BS 8500-1: 2002 as “recycled aggregate principally
comprising crushed concrete”. RCA is defined as different from RA in BS 8500: Part
2 on the basis of composition; to qualify as RCA, the material must not contain more
than 5% brick or masonry, 5% asphalt, 0.5% lightweight material and 1% foreign
material.

Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) comes from a number of sources including the
demolition of roads and runways (Lamb & Griffiths, 2006), concrete bridges and
buildings and surplus or damaged concrete pipes and railway sleepers. The SHW
permits the use of RCA as a substitute for natural aggregates for all unbound and
bound applications. RCA is particularly useful as a coarse aggregate in low strength
ancillary concrete, e.g. for kerb backing and similar applications. It can also be used
as aggregate in concrete up to 50 N/mm2 strength under BS 8500-2. However, if
recycled concrete aggregate is to be used in the construction of concrete pavements,
then the SHW (Series 1001, Clause 10) states that only crushed concrete resulting
from the reclamation or processing of concrete previously used in construction which
originates from identified structures with a know history should be used.

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 Box 6.5 Examples of the use of RCA in Highways
RCA has been used as 6F1 selected granular fill (fine grading) and 6F2
selected granular material (coarse grading) in the capping material to
construct a temporary building at Heathrow Terminal 5. RCA has a
technical advantage over alternative primary aggregate in that it holds
together better and handles well in wet weather (AggRegain, 2004e). RCA
can also be used as sub-base and has the advantage of being less
susceptible to frost heave than RA. RCA was used as Type 1 sub-base in
the M25 Junction 12 – 15 improvement (AggRegain, 2004). Care has to be
taken when using unbound RCA in applications below the water table, e.g.
as a starter layer for embankments, as the presence of unreacted lime
may lead to leachate with a very high pH. This may be undesirable in
environmentally sensitive areas.

RCA is not generally incorporated into asphalt but it has been used in
foamed bitumen on the A9 at Granish near Aviemore (AggRegain, 2004f),
which is considered to experience the most severe winter conditions on
trunk roads in the United Kingdom. The existing lean concrete was
pulverised prior to being bound by foamed bitumen and compacted as the
base. Conventional dense bituminous macadam binder course and hot
rolled asphalt surface course completed the pavement. Stiffness
measurements have indicated good performance.

When RCA is used in concrete, the amount of chloride and sulfate in the
mixture has to be considered. Chloride ions are associated with the
corrosion of steel reinforcement whilst sulfate reactions lead to expansive
disintegration of the cement paste. RCA could offer improved properties
when compared to primary aggregate in the construction of concrete
pavements. The surface texture and particle shape of RCA result in a
higher ratio of flexural to compressive strength making it more suitable for
use in concrete pavements than other smooth rounded aggregates.
However, the porous nature of RCA increases the water demand to
achieve similar workability to primary aggregate which adversely affects
the shrinkage and thermal deformation of concrete (Hassan et al., 2004a).
Mixture trials should be undertaken to determine the suitability of the RCA.
Consideration also has to be given to the possibility of alkali silica reaction
(ASR) when using RCA (Calder and McKenzie, 2005). The allowable
percentages of impurities for pavement quality concrete are given in BS
8500-2.

Texas Department of Transport (2003) has experience with utilising 100%

RCA, both coarse and fine material, in concrete pavement sections. Test
results of field trials were very encouraging showing no adverse effects on
pavement performance. The risk of alkali-silica reaction (ASR) was
minimised with the use of fly ash as a cement replacement material. The
only problems that contractors experienced were that the consistency of
the material was not guaranteed and the material sometimes set too
quickly.

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6.2.11 Recycled glass
Crushing of waste glass produces particles that are generally angular in shape with
some flat elongated particles. Proper crushing can virtually eliminate sharp edges
and the corresponding safety hazards associated with manual handling of the
product. Consistency of supply is one of the key issues regarding the technical
applications for recycled glass. Glass can be crushed to large grain sizes (larger than
5mm) and small grain sizes (smaller than 5mm). Large grain sizes have a high
‘flakiness index’, which may limit their application, whereas the small grain sizes have
the greater prospect as an aggregate replacement in asphalt and concrete
pavements (WRAP, 2003). BSI PAS 102, available at
http://www.wrap.org.uk/manufacturing/info_by_material/glass/glass.html provides a
specification for processed glass for secondary end markets.

HD35 states that although recycled glass could comply as a bulk fill and selected
granular fill for earthworks applications, it is unlikely to be used in such
circumstances. In the USA, glass cullet has been used as a replacement for gravel in
backfill operations. It was found to be different to handle compared to primary
material but the performance was similar (AggRegain, 2004g). Recycled glass has
also been used for pipe bedding in the USA as a replacement for primary aggregates.
The compaction and handling of the glass was claimed to be comparable to that of
the primary aggregates. The only comments concerned the guarantee of supply of
the material (AggRegain, 2004h).

Box 6.6 Use of Recycled Glass as Bedding Sand in London

Recycled glass has been used as bedding sand for slabs and pavers in
Surrey and some London Boroughs, where natural sand has to be brought
from considerable distance and is expensive. This material is marketed as
EcoSand the raw material is post-consumer waste glass collected by local
authorities' recycling programmes. The glass is crushed, graded to size
and washed to produce a clean 'washed glass sand'. As EcoSand is a
manufactured product, it has a more consistent grading than many
extracted aggregates (http://www.dayaggregates.com/home.htm).

A major concern about using glass in asphalt mixtures is the adhesion between the
bituminous binder and the smooth glass surface (Hassan et al., 2004a). Furthermore,
the potential for polishing militates against its use in the surface course layer. Trials
in the UK (Nicholls and Lay, 2002) have demonstrated no significant stripping on
mixtures with 30% glass, even after 3 years in service. Furthermore, anti-stripping
agents can be used to improve the bond characteristics with glass particles (Texas
Department of Transport, 2003).

In the USA, many highway agencies allow the use of crushed glass in hot mix
asphalt with a maximum of 15% crushed glass with 100% passing the 9.5 mm sieve
and a maximum of 6% passing the 0.075mm sieve. However, laboratory tests have
indicated that the mixtures containing either coarse or fine crushed glass had lower
Marshall Stability values than the control. Therefore, there have been proposals to
add requirements for moisture conditioning and tensile strength testing (ASTM, 1993).

The use of crushed glass in concrete has a durability concern due to ASR. The
amorphous silica in glass reacts with the alkalis of cement forming expansive
products of silica gel, leading to concrete cracking and premature deterioration.
Crushed glass is not permitted by the SHW for use in pavement quality concrete. The

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susceptibility to ASR could be minimised with the use of low alkali cement and
cement replacement materials. Research on glass concrete has indicated that
expansion due to ASR is dependent also on the glass particle size, content, type and
colour. Clear glass was the most reactive followed by amber, whereas the green
glass caused no ASR expansion (Jin et al., 2000).

Box 6.7 Use of Recycled Glass in Asphalt

Although the use of recycled glass as an aggregate in base and binder
courses is not specifically covered in the SHW, the Highways Agency are
willing to grant ‘departures’ for its use in base and binder course mixtures
and it has been widely used by Local Authorities. The inclusion of glass
has proved popular with some environmentally conscious clients. Test
results indicated that the use of recycled glass as a secondary aggregate
had no discernible detrimental technical effect on the performance of the
product and there is a case study using glass in the asphalt base and
binder courses on the M50 at Junction 2 (AggRegain, 2004i).

6.2.12 Slate aggregate

Slate secondary aggregate, the surplus material from the production of slate roofing
tiles, is available in large quantities of approximately 6.3mt/a arisings and 466mt
stockpiles. However, the availability of the material is relatively localised to North
Wales which has restricted its use. With exemption from the aggregate levy,
transport of the material is becoming commercially feasible (AggRegain, 2004j). Slate
aggregate is permitted for all highway applications
.
Slate aggregates are used regularly as Type 1 granular sub base material, filter
medium, pipe bedding, capping layers (Class 6F1 and 6F2), and Class 1A general fill.
The material appears to move slightly after it has been placed; but once it has been
trafficked, the particles interlock and provide a strong material, as evidenced by the
high CBR values. Once contractors gain experience working with the material, they
do not have further problems (AggRegain, 2004j).

Milton et al., (1997) reported the construction and early life monitoring of a full-scale
road trial, using bitumen and cement bound slate waste as base materials. Whilst the
trials demonstrated the construction of the layers within the required time scale,
problems were experienced with level and thickness control to the extent that the
designed thickness was not achieved, particularly for the cement bound mixture
containing the larger nominal size aggregate. This problem was assigned primarily to
the high flakiness of the aggregate and the resulting bulkiness in the uncompacted
state. Site testing indicated that slate waste base mixtures are likely to perform in a
comparable manner to those of primary materials.

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 Box 6.8 Use of Slate Aggregate as Unbound Sub-base on the A55
Bangor Bypass
The A55 Bangor Bypass was originally constructed in 1980/81 and is
approximately 12km of dual carriageway. 150,000 tonnes of slate
aggregate was used as unbound sub-base, capping and filter material.
When the road was reconstructed in 1990, the slate sub-base was found to
have performed very well, with a CBR of over 50% compared to the design
requirement of 30%. A further 80,000 tonnes of slate aggregate was
therefore used as sub-base in the reconstruction, and the road has
performed well ever since. Details are available at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/2693_use_of_slat.html.

6.2.13 Spent oil shale

Spent oil shale is the residue from the oil extraction industry and mainly occurs in the
Lothian region in Scotland. There is no current production of spent oil shale but large
quantities of stockpiles are available, estimated at 100mt.

The mechanical weakness and high levels of sulfate cause this material to be
excluded from use in pipe bedding and in asphalt and concrete. It may also be
susceptible to frost heave making it unsuitable for use as unbound sub-base. This
problem can be overcome by adding small amounts of cement, however one must
ensure the sulfate content is not excessive (Winter, 1998).

Box 6.9 Use of Spent Oil Shale in the M8/M9 Newbridge Interchange
Spent oil shale is permitted by the SHW for use in embankment and fill,
capping and sub-base layers. It was used as a general fill on the M8/M9
Newbridge Interchange improvement to grade separated junction
(AggRegain, 2004k). The sulfate content of the material meant that it was
not placed within 500mm of cementitious or concrete material. Spent oil
shale has been widely used as unbound fill in major road projects in
Lothian Region (Winter, 1998).

6.2.14 Steel slag

Slag from the steel making process has a different composition to that produced in
blast furnaces. Air-cooled steel slags result in a product that resembles igneous rock.
They are usually denser and more variable in composition than BFS. The production
methods produce two different slags called Basic Oxygen Steel (BOS) and Electric
Arc Furnace (EAF) slag (Baldwin et al., 1997; Dunster, 2001). Both types of steel
slag are used mainly as aggregate. Steel slag contains free lime (CaO) and free
magnesia (MgO) with the consequent risk of expansion, and the leachate from the
material may be undesirable from an environmental viewpoint (Boyle and Khati,
1998). In all applications the material needs to be weathered before use to minimise
its dimensional instability.

Steel slag is permitted for use in unbound applications, hydraulically bound mixtures
and asphalt but not permitted for use in pavement quality concrete. The main use of
steel slag is in the upper asphalt layers of the pavement including the surface course

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because it possesses high skid resistance (Roe, 2003). The Highways Agency has
accepted that steel slag is equivalent to a natural aggregate with a measured PSV of
60. If it is proposed to use steel slag, checks should be carried out to ensure it has
been properly weathered under a quality control system and will not be subject to
dimensional instability. The volume stability can be determined according to BS EN
1744-1 Clause 19. It is not advisable for slag to be placed below the water table, as it
is liable to leach unreacted lime.

Box 6.10 Use of Basic Oxygen Steel Slag (BOS) as a Surface Course
Aggregate in England
BOS slag is available from steel works in South Wales, Humberside,
Lincolnshire and Teesside. Since 1999 work has been undertaken to
investigate the use of this material as a road surface course aggregate.
Five trial sections were laid on Local Authority roads in 1999 and 2000,
and the sections have been monitored by TRL on an annual basis and the
skid resistance compared with adjacent control sections and with
Highways Agency standards for skid resistance (Roe, 2003, 2005). The
results indicate that the BOS slag performs well in comparison with natural
aggregates in a wide range of situations. There are indications that the
skid resistance of BOS slag may improve over time but more detailed
analysis of seasonal variation is required to confirm this.

The initial work (Roe, 2003) found that, for BOS slag aggregate, the
measured PSV (polished stone value) did not sufficiently characterise the
material and that it had the potential to provide better skid resistance than
indicated by the standard laboratory test. Site measurement using SCRIM
(Sideways-force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine) provides a
better indication of the actual skid resistance. Based on the evidence from
initial on-road studies over a period of three years, the Highways Agency
permitted the use of BOS slag in surface courses without the need for PSV
tests, with the proviso that its performance continued to be monitored.
Details of the monitoring results after five years are given in Roe (2005)
and show that the material continues to perform satisfactorily. Monitoring is
continuing on an annual basis.

Steel slag has a high specific gravity; therefore it is generally uneconomic to use it as
an unbound fill material unless there is a source very close to the project. This was
the case on the Newport Southern Distributor Road in South Wales, where about
47,000 tonnes of steel slag was used as capping. Details are available at
http://www.aggregain.org.uk/case_studies/2720_performance.html.

6.2.15 Unburnt colliery spoil

Unburnt colliery spoil arises in a similar manner to burnt colliery spoil with different
physical and chemical composition. It consists of a mixture of mudstone, siltstone
and sandstone with fragments of coal from the strata surrounding the coal seams,
and will vary from colliery to colliery and from seam to seam within a colliery; hence it
is likely to be a highly variable material. These changes affect the utilisation of the
material in different applications. There is no technical reason to exclude unburnt
colliery spoil from use as general fill, provided that it meets the appropriate grading
requirements and is compacted appropriately. It is, however, excluded from use as a
granular capping layer and as a stabilised material. It is also excluded from pipe

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bedding, backfill to structures and unbound sub-base because of the potential attack
to concrete pipes from sulfates, sulfides and chlorides and low pH and because it is a
relatively weak material compared to primary aggregate.

Winter (1998) reported on a survey of the use of unburnt colliery spoil as fill on twelve
contracts, indicating that the materials used formed sound embankments and
provided excellent fill material with advantages over most soils particularly during
inclement weather.

Unburnt colliery spoil (and burnt colliery spoil and spent oil shale) could be permitted
as selected granular fill, capping, unbound and hydraulically bound sub base if they
could be shown to have low contents of sulfates and other chemical contaminants by
a rigorous programme of testing. Not all colliery spoils have high concentrations of
chemical contaminants. The strength and durability of the material would also have to
be satisfactory. The slake durability test (Franklin, 1970) is often used for this
purpose; if more than 96% of the sample remains intact after two cycles, the material
is taken to be sufficiently durable.

The SHW permits the use of unburnt colliery spoil as an aggregate in hydraulically
bound mixtures, although cement stabilised unburnt spoil is not permitted for use in
capping layers. The material is also not permitted in pavement quality concrete due
to the presence of sulfides and sulfates. Again, if the particular materials to be used
could be shown to be free of chemical contaminants and to meet the requirements of
the SHW for the proposed application, they could be used. However, because of the
potential consequences of failure, a rigorous testing programme would have to be
implemented.

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 Box 6.11 Use of Colliery Spoil in A63 Selby Bypass
Unburnt colliery spoil was used as general granular fill in an embankment
on the A63 Selby bypass (AggRegain, 2004l). The embankment was
constructed using pulverised fuel ash (PFA) with the unburnt colliery spoil
used to encapsulate the PFA. The materials were both found to be very
consistent and no problems occurred with the unburnt colliery spoil.

Unburnt colliery spoil has also been used as bulk fill on the A64: Colton
Lane and A63: Melton Bypass schemes in Yorkshire in recent years. The
material had high sulfate and sulfide content, but it was possible to use it
as general fill by ensuring that it did not drain onto any susceptible
materials such as concrete, metal or Chalk or limestone fill.

Use of colliery spoil on the A63 Melton Bypass

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6.3 Secondary and recycled materials not included in HD35

6.3.1 Introduction
Although HD35 indicates materials of which there are significant quantities either
stockpiled or as arisings, there are other materials that could be considered for use in
highway construction.

6.3.2 Construction and demolition waste fines (RA fines)

Whilst RA derived from coarse construction and demolition waste is permitted by
many specifications for various applications in highway construction, there is a need
to develop a high-value market for the RA fines. RA represents the largest materials
arising, approximately 45mt/a in the UK, and the fine fraction, passing the 5mm sieve,
could contain high levels of contaminant materials such as paper, metal, clay, wood,
plastic and plasterboard. In many instances, separation of coarse and fine RA is not
considered due to cost implications of processing the material and concerns about
suppliers being left with large volumes of fines for which there is no market. However,
there is a potential for a higher market price for RA fines due to their binding
properties. Some RA fines possess hardening properties, such as recycled concrete
aggregate, whilst others have pozzolanic properties, such as bricks and ceramic
waste. In both cases the binding capacity of these materials will contribute
significantly to the cost benefits, for example by reducing the binder requirement in
hydraulically bound mixtures. Separation of RA fines will increase the initial cost and
could contribute to more dust generation if not carried out in controlled environments.
However, it will provide a high-value market for both the coarse and fine fractions of
RA (Hassan et al., 2004a).

In Germany, Winkler and Mueller (1998) carried out an experimental study to

examine the effect of brick, masonry and concrete fines on the hydration and
strength development of mortars. The materials were ground to fineness similar to
that of cement and used to replace up to 60% by weight of cement. The brick powder
replacement up to 20% was found to improve workability, generate additional
pozzolanic reactions, but resulted in a slight reduction in strength. No signs of
pozzolanic reactions were detected for the masonry powders, which therefore gave
lower strength. The hardening properties of the recycled concrete powder were
related to its fineness; when ground very fine, it improved the workability and strength
of the mortars.

Dutch experience on the use of RA fines indicated potential use as fine aggregate in
concrete. At the same effective water content, replacement of river sand with
recycled sands did not affect the workability of the fresh concrete, but reduced
bleeding. Full replacement of river sand with 100% washed RA fines or 25%
unwashed material showed only a slight reduction in strength (Van der Wegen and
Haverkort, 1998).

6.3.3 Recycled concrete aggregate fines (RCA fines)

RCA fines were used as the main binder to produce low-strength cementitious
composites in Sweden (Karlsson, 1998). RCA from a residential building in
Gothenberg had been separated into fine and coarse fractions. The fine RCA fraction
was ground and mixed with a surface activator additive and then mixed with coarse

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RCA and sand. With a ground RCA fines content of 350 kg/m3, the resultant
composite gave a 28-day compressive strength of 2.8 MPa.

In the 1990s, parts of the Vienna-Salzburg motorway were reconstructed by fully

recycling the old concrete pavement into a new pavement (Sommer, 1998). The
original concrete pavement was shattered, crushed and screened. The coarse
fraction, particles ranging in size from 32mm to 4mm, representing about 70% of the
crushed concrete, was reused as aggregate in the new concrete pavement layer.
The remaining 30% fine fraction, size 0 to 4mm, was blended with some of the
original granular sub-base and cement to form the new cement bound sub-base. The
stabilised sub-base was covered with a thin layer, 50mm, of asphalt regulating layer
before placing the concrete pavement and no problem with reflected cracking has
been reported.

6.3.4 Recycled tyres

The DTI’s Used Tyre Working Group (UTWG: www.tyredisposal.co.uk) estimates that
the total waste tyre arisings in the UK amount to 0.44mt, with around 70% being
recovered. In 1996, 37 million tyres were scrapped in the UK with 30% being re-
treaded, 27% used for energy recovery, 30% sent to landfill and 3% were physically
re-used for other purposes. Around 50% of the weight of the scrapped tyre consists
of rubber and these tyres could be used in road construction (Sherwood, 2001).
However, the tyres do need processing before they can be used and there are
significant differences between car tyres, which are generally synthetic rubber, and
lorry tyres, which are generally natural rubber.

European specifications exist for rubber crumb produced from waste tyres (CEN,
2002), which could be adopted to partly specify this material as an aggregate.
Another form of re-use is for energy recovery, for instance in cement kilns. From April
2003 EC directives prevented whole tyres going to landfill and from July 2006
shredded tyre waste was banned from landfill sites. Therefore, the quantity of waste
tyres needing to be recovered will increase.

Recycled tyres are suitable for a wide range of applications in civil engineering. Their
low density and free-draining nature makes them suitable as lightweight fill in areas
of soft ground and as backfill to retaining structures. They can be used in a variety of
forms, including tyre bales, whole tyres, shred, chips and granulate, and in a variety
of applications including lightweight fill, soil reinforcement, drainage, erosion control,
landfill engineering, artificial reefs and use in asphalt and concrete. Many of these
applications are common in various parts of the world, and they are being
increasingly used in the UK, particularly in the form of tyre bales. Potential
applications of used tyres in civil engineering are described by Hylands and Shulman
(2004). There are a number of examples of used tyres being used in road projects in
the UK, including the use of tyre bales to enable road construction over very soft
ground (Reid and Winter, 2004). A design guide for use of tyre bales in construction
(Winter et al., 2005a) and case studies (Winter et al., 2005b) have recently been
published. Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) shredded tyres (PAS 107 (BSI,
2007a)) and tyre bales (PAS 108 (BSI, 2007b)) have been prepared for the Waste
and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). A Waste Protocol for shredded and
crumbed tyres is being prepared by Environment Agency (EA) and WRAP.

In asphalt, the rubber acts both as a binder modifier (particularly the finer particles)
and as a fine aggregate. However, vulcanisation reduces the effectiveness of the
rubber as a modifier. The processing of the rubber involves crushing and grinding the

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tyres using either the wet or dry process (OECD, 1997), with the wet processing
producing more binder modification and the dry process more fine aggregate.

Information on the use of tyre rubber in bituminous layers can be obtained from the
WRAP website (www.wrap.org.uk/construction/tyres).

Most of the work on the use of rubber in asphalt has been done in the USA, where its
use was made mandatory at one time before practicality removed the requirement,
whilst it has not been widely used in Europe. Asphalt rubber concrete (ARC) is the
term used in the USA for asphalt in which the rubber is primarily used as a binder
modifier, whilst rubber modified asphalt concrete (RUMAC) is the term for asphalt
where the rubber has replaced between 2% and 5% of the aggregate.

Rubber has a potential use in concrete as aggregate replacement with improved

properties in certain applications. Compared to primary aggregate, rubber is of light
weight and has an elastic nature that allows the concrete to withstand large
deformations. Rubber concrete has the ability to absorb energy, possibly making it
suitable for use in concrete safety barriers with reduced damage incurred by vehicle
collisions. It is also suitable for applications with an upper strength limit, such as
foamed concrete in trench instatement (Hassan et al., 2004b). However, the costs of
producing the rubber aggregate are significantly higher than for most conventional
concrete aggregates, primary, secondary or recycled, and this may limit uptake for
this application.

Box 6.12 Use of Tyre Bales in a Minor Road over Peat, Northern
Scotland
The B871 road in Sutherland, Northern Scotland is typical of the lightly
trafficked roads found in this isolated area. Like many roads in the area, it
is constructed over soft peat and a section at Loch Rosail had settled to
below water table level. It was necessary to reconstruct the road to allow
heavy vehicles to use it to clear a large conifer forest. Tyre bales were
used to ‘float’ the central 55m section over the softest ground in December
2002. Two layers of tyre bales were placed wrapped in geosynthetic fabric,
overlain by a 250mm layer of rock fill with a layer of reinforcing mesh to
provide additional stiffness. A 100mm layer of Type 1 sub-base was
compacted on top of the rockfill, with a further 50mm of fine sand and two
layers of surface dressing after a period of some months, when settlement
had slowed down. The use of tyre bales successfully enabled the
reconstruction of this vital transport link for a remote rural area (Reid and
Winter, 2004).

6.3.5 Recycled plastic

The amount of waste plastic generated is about 2.5mt of which about 0.2mt of plastic
is recycled each year in the UK. Single polymer recycled plastics have typical values
of £10 to £200/t. Other waste plastic arisings exist, which are difficult to separate and
process and these are potential sources of plastic ‘aggregates’, including mixed
plastics and shredder wastes. However, the infrastructure to provide these materials
to be used as aggregates does not currently exist. With the changing waste
management situation, it may be that disposal of these materials will be less
economic in the future and a need to find methods of re-use, such as alternative

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aggregates, will be required. No form of specification of recycled plastic exists which
would be suitable to specify their use as aggregate.

Potential uses for recycled plastic in highway construction include geogrids or

separation membranes, soil stabilisation, lightweight aggregate, sheet piling and
asphalt binder. Work by Hassan et al. (2004b) indicated that asphalt binder course
incorporating plastic aggregate showed adequate fatigue and deformation resistance.
The use of waste plastic was justified if an adequate and economic supply of material
can be established. However, the mixture showed a degree of moisture sensitivity
which would limit its use in surface courses.

Conigliaro Industries (www.conigliaro.com) produce lightweight aggregate from

recycled mixed plastics. The plastic was predominantly sourced from packaging
waste. Concrete incorporating plastic aggregate, Plas-Crete, is a substitute for
conventional concrete products in various applications of low-density insulating
concrete, moderate-strength lightweight concrete, as well as structural lightweight
concrete. Plas-Crete has been an immediate success in the marketplace through use
in manufacturing large lightweight concrete wall blocks for temporary and easily
constructed retaining walls.

6.3.6 Ferro-silicate slag (zinc slag)

Until early 2003 the BZL works was the UK’s only primary zinc smelter and had been
at the site at Avonmouth, near the Severn Estuary, for 50 years. BZL produced on
average 90,000 tonnes of zinc and 35,000 tonnes of lead a year, and 80,000 tonnes
per annum of ferro-silicate slag (Imperial Smelting Furnace slag, ISF slag) as a
residue. ISF slag is a granulated, glassy material that has the appearance of dark
coloured sand. There are still significant quantities of this material, 2mt stockpiled
and landfilled, available at the Avonmouth site. However, this material is probably
only economically viable for use in the South West of England and South Wales.

Zinc slag contains a number of heavy metals in high concentrations, including

cadmium and arsenic (Dijkink, 1994). It is considered that the environmental
implications of any secondary aggregates containing heavy metals such as cadmium
and arsenic will probably inhibit their use in asphalt. However, zinc slag has been
used in an asphalt pavement and showed satisfactory performance (Dunster, 2005).

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 Box 6.13 Use of Zinc Slag in an Asphalt Trial Road, Avonmouth
A road trial was undertaken in Avonmouth of a Dense Bitumen Macadam
(DBM) material comprising 30% ISF slag (% replacement of primary
aggregate by volume) and 4.0% 50 penetration grade binder were used.
The trial panel comprised two sections, the test and the control sections
(with and without ISF slag respectively). These sections were visually
monitored over a one year period with a final detailed assessment at 30
months. This showed that asphalt mixes containing ISF slag can be
successfully made, and that it is feasible to use ISF slag as a partial
replacement for sand (up to 30% by volume) in DBM in typical coated
macadam base/binder course mixtures without compromising
environmental or mechanical performance. The field trials confirmed that
the slag asphalt can be easily laid with conventional equipment, and the in
situ properties are similar to those of conventional mixtures. In addition, the
case study illustrates that contaminants within ISF slag are effectively
bound when the slag is used as aggregate in asphalt, and that a properly
designed and constructed road will minimise water ingress and percolation
through its structure. This, therefore, provides reassurance that
contaminants in the ISF slag would be effectively immobilised in the matrix
of an asphalt road structure in service (AggRegain, 2005).

Recently, zinc slag has been used in the foam bitumen process, where foam bitumen
is added to loose moist granular material. Foam bitumen can immobilise waste
material, which was confirmed by a number of tests where samples of treated zinc
slag were taken to check the immobilising effect of foam bitumen. The tests showed
that the zinc slag was very well fixed and the immobilisation effect was very high
(more than 95%).

6.3.7 Cement-kiln dust

Cement kiln dust (CKD) is carried by hot gasses in a cement kiln and collected by a
filter system during the production of cement. The kiln dust differs from cement in that
the raw material has not been fully burnt. The chemical composition and reactive
properties of CKD make it useful for a number of applications. Cement kiln dust
works well as a stabilizer for certain types of soils because of its calcium oxide
content. Its high alkalinity promotes its use as an activator in hydraulically bound
mixtures, but could increase the potential for alkali-silica reactions with reactive
aggregate in concrete.

Fresh CKD can be used as filler in asphalt (Kraszewski and Emery, 1981). The use
of CKD as the filler in asphalt mixtures gives properties comparable to that of
conventional filler. Gradation, organic impurities and plasticity requirements normally
associated with mineral filler specification can usually be met without difficulty. With
the integration between cement manufacturers and asphalt producers, it is
anticipated that CKD will be used in asphalt more frequently in the future.

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 Box 6.14 TRL Research Project on use of CKD as Filler in Asphalt
A research project at TRL found that CKD could be used as filler in asphalt
as a replacement for limestone dust. Laboratory tests on samples of CKD
from three plants were carried out. All performed similarly, though there
were significant differences in composition between the samples. Only one
sample complied with the grading and density requirements for filler in BS
EN 13043. A site trial was carried out with this sample in binder and
surface course, with control sections using conventional limestone filler.
The pilot-scale trial demonstrated that it is practical to use CKD as the
added filler in stone mastic asphalt mixtures without increasing the mixing
time or temperature. When taken together with the laboratory results, the
trial demonstrated that CKD can be successfully used as the added filler,
replacing limestone filler, in routine mixtures of macadam, stone mastic
asphalt and hot rolled asphalt. A quality protocol for CKD was drafted
(Nicholls et al., 2007).

6.3.8 Spent railway ballast

According to the ODPM survey of secondary aggregates for 2001 (ODPM, 2002b),
there are annual arisings of about 1.31 million tonnes of spent railway ballast in
England and Wales. Locally, these can make a significant contribution to the
aggregate requirements of an area, for example in Hampshire where approximately
140,000 tonnes per annum is used as capping, unbound sub-base and general fill
(Reid et al., 2006).

Specifications for railway ballast normally involve size, shape and rock quality
requirements, the aim being to obtain a coarse angular material, the particles of
which will interlock to form a layer of good dimensional stability. The BR Ballast
Specification (BR 1203: 1988) requires aggregates to be finer than 63 mm and not
more than 0.8% finer than 1.18 mm with most of the material lying between 50 and
28 mm. The material is other wise required to be hard, durable stone, andgular in
shape with all dimensions nearly equal and free from dust. It is mostly supplied by
igneous rock such as granite, with small amounts of hornfels and quartzitic
sandstone (Smith and Collis, 2001). If the subgrade is weak, a layer of blanketing
sand may be required below the ballast.

Railway ballast is thus a high quality material. However, by the time it is replaced it
may be contaminated by the blanketing sand or weak soil in the subgrade, material
deposited from trains, and fines produced by attrition of the coarse angular particles
under repeated loading. The grading of the original material, a coarse gravel, is
markedly different from the well-graded fills required for applications such as capping
and sub-base, and it may be contaminated by clay or organic material picked up in
the course of its working life. The grading can be adjusted by crushing and screening
to meet the requirements for highway applications, but if the material is seriously
contaminated, for instance with diesel or PCBs, it may require to be washed before
use.

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6.3.9 Quarry fines and surplus material
The production of primary aggregates from sand and gravel and hard rock inevitably
results in some surplus material, mostly fines. Coarser material, known as ‘scalpings’
is often used as a low-grade rockfill. Some of the fines can be used as filler is asphalt;
limestone fines are particularly used for this purpose. However, much of the fines
remains and is either used for restoration or clutters up the quarry, until in the
extreme it can prevent further excavation of aggregate. However, there may be
opportunities to use this material in specialist applications in highways, footways and
associated works.

Applications for quarry fines involving highways include:

• Landscape bunds and noise bunds;
• Artificial soils, when mixed with green waste compost;
• Surfacing for footways and cycleways in country parks;
• Mixing with cement to form stabilised capping or sub-base;
• Use as sand in low strength ancillary concrete;
• Use as filter or drainage material, if the fines have been separated;
• Bedding sand for block paving;
• Fibre reinforced soils for occasional vehicle access routes in country parks
and heritage sites.

The particular uses that will be possible will depend on the characteristics of the
material from individual quarries and the location of the sources compared to the
applications. Quarry fines vary considerably in their composition, depending on the
nature of the parent materials and the processes being used to extract aggregate.
The fines from hard rock quarries tend to be well-graded sand, from 3mm down, with
variable proportions of silt and clay depending on the rock type, but the material from
a sinlge source will generally be very consistent. The fines from sand and gravel
quarries are more dependent on the nature of the parent materials, and may contain
significant proportions of silt and clay. The grading will clearly affect their suitability
for the applications listed above. In some quarries the silt and clay is separated from
the sand by washing. This is expensive, but yields a high value free-draining sand
that can be used for a number of applications.

The transport distances for the materials from the quarries to the point of use
compared to alternative sources will also affect the economics, and sustainability, of
using them. It should be noted that, unlike the other recycled and secondary
aggregates discussed in this chapter, quarry fines are not exempt from the
Aggregates Levy. However, where these materials can be used economically, this
will contribute to the overall sustainability of the mineral workings, and can prolong
the working life of the quarry.

There may be opportunities for synergies with activities being carried out by other
departments of the Council, such as waste management and countryside and
heritage. Examples include mixing with green waste compost to produce
manufactured soils or use in footways and cycleways in country parks.

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 Box 6.15 Use of Sandstone Quarry Sand in South Wales
A detailed study was undertaken of potential applications of surplus quarry
sand from five quarries for high PSV aggregates in the Pennant Sandstone
of South Wales. The material was a well-graded silty sand and was very
consistent with time and between the quarries. A number of applications
were identified, including bedding sand for pavers, concreting sand,
manufactured soils when mixed with green waste compost, and surfacing
for footways and cycleways in country parks. The last application was
particularly successful, as the material compacted well and formed a good
surface, with or without the addition of cement. The material was similar in
colour to the country rock, from which it was derived, and was felt to more
appropriate than imported limestone fines. Full details are given in Lamb
(2005).

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7 Distribution and Availability of Aggregates in the UK

7.1 Regional availability of recycled and secondary aggregates

Information on the availability of recycled and secondary aggregates was given in
Table 6.1. Many of the secondary aggregates in particular are only available in
specific geographic areas, whereas recycled aggregates are widely available in
urban areas across the UK, but may not be available in rural areas. The distribution
of these materials on a regional basis is shown on Figures 7.1 to 7.7 as a general
guide to their availability. These maps are based on surveys carried out by Capita
Symonds for the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, now the Department for
Communities and Local Government, and WRAP for construction and demolition
waste arisings (surveys for 2005 for England (Department for Communities and Local
Government, 2007a), 2003 for Scotland (Capita Symonds, 2004), 2001 for Wales
(Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2002a) and secondary aggregates (2005 for
England (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2007b), 2001 for
Wales (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2002b). Scrap tyres were not included in
the 2005 survey of secondary materials, so all the tyre data is from the 2001 survey
and is for England and Wales only (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2002b). Data
on construction and demolition waste arisings in Northern Ireland for 2001 was
obtained from a survey by Enviros (2003) for the Environment and Heritage Service.
Data on secondary aggregates in Scotland was obtained from a study by Winter and
Henderson for 1999 (Winter and Henderson, 2001).

The maps show the current annual production of these materials. In addition there
are large stockpiles of some materials, in particular slate, China Clay Sand, PFA and
to a lesser extent colliery spoil. These may also potentially be available for use in
highway maintenance or new construction works.

One of the major sustainability considerations when selecting materials for highway
works is minimisation of transport distances. Thus if recycled and secondary
aggregates are available locally and can perform the required functions satisfactorily,
it is sustainable to use them in preference to primary aggregates. It may also be
sustainable to adapt specifications to make best use of the available materials, so
long as an adequate standard of performance is maintained; for example, the
Highways Agency has produced specific clauses for the use of materials such as
pulverised-fuel ash (PFA), China clay sand and slate aggregate in a number of
applications. However, it is not sustainable to transport recycled and secondary
aggregates over considerable distances if suitable primary aggregates are available
close to the works. Transport is a major cause of CO2 emissions, and minimising
these is a major aim of sustainable construction. This can be quantified by using the
CO2 calculator tool available on the AggRegain web site
(http://www.aggregain.org.uk/sustainability/try_a_sustainability_tool/co2_emissions.ht
ml ); this enables different options for constructing a road to be compared to see
which causes the lowest CO2 emissions. This tool is described in more detail in
Chapter 9. The option with the lowest transport distances will also usually be the
most economic.

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 Edinburgh
Central
Scotland

Southern
Scotland Newcastle upon Tyne
North East
Northern
Ireland
Belfast
North West
Yorkshire &
the Humber

Liverpool
East
North Wales Midlands

Norwich
Birmingham
West
Midlands East of
South Wales England

Cardiff London
Bristol
South East
South West Southampton

Plymouth

Figure 7.1 - Total Production of Recycled Aggregates and Soil (million tonnes),
England and Wales

Recycled
6 3
Aggregates

Recycled
5 2
Soils

4 0.0

Data for England are for 2005 (DCLG, 2007a)

Data for Wales are for 2001 (ODPM, 2002a)

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 Highlands &
Islands Aberdeen

North East
Scotland

Edinburgh
Central
Scotland

Southern North East

Scotland
Newcastle upon Tyne
Northern
Ireland
Belfast

Yorkshire &
the Humber
North West

Preston

Figure 7.2 - Total Production of Recycled Aggregates and Soil (million tonnes),
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England

Recycled
6 3
Aggregates

Recycled
5 2
Soils

4 1

Data for Scotland are for 2003 (Capita Symonds, 2004); data for Northern Ireland are
for 2001 (Enviros, 2004); data for England are for 2005 (DCLG, 2007a)

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 Edinburgh
Central
Scotland

Southern
Scotland Newcastle upon Tyne
North East
Northern
Ireland
Belfast
North West
Yorkshire &
the Humber

Liverpool

North Wales East

Midlands

Norwich
West Birmingham
Midlands East of
England

South Wales

Cardiff London
Bristol
South East
South West Southampton

Plymouth

Figure 7.3 - Total Production of PFA, FBA and IBA (million tonnes) in the UK

Power Station Pulverised Fuel

2 0.5
Ash_(PFA) or Fly Ash

Power Station Furnace Bottom Ash

1.5 0.3
(FBA)

Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator

1 0.0
Bottom Ash

Data for England are for 2005 (DCLG, 2007b)

Data for Wales are for 2001 (ODPM, 2002b)
Data for Scotland are for 1999 (Winter and Henderson, 2001)
No data for Northern Ireland

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 Edinburgh
Central
Scotland

Southern
Scotland Newcastle upon Tyne
North East
Northern
Ireland
Belfast
North West

Yorkshire &
the Humber

Liverpool

North Wales East

Midlands
Norwich
West Birmingham
Midlands East of
England

South Wales

Cardiff London
Bristol
South East
South West Southampton

Plymouth

Figure 7.4 - Total Production of Colliery Spoil, Slate and China Clay Sand
(million tonnes) in the UK

15 3 China Clay Waste

10 1 Colliery Spoil

5 0 Slate Waste

England 2005 (DCLG, 2007b); Wales 2001 (ODPM, 2002b); Scotland 1999 (Winter
and Henderson, 2001); no data for Northern Ireland

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 Edinburgh
Central
Scotland

Southern
Scotland Newcastle upon Tyne
North East
Northern
Ireland
Belfast
North West

Yorkshire &
the Humber

Liverpool

North Wales East

Midlands
Norwich
West Birmingham
Midlands East of
England

South Wales

Cardiff London
Bristol
South East
South West Southampton

Plymouth

Figure 7.5 - Total Production of Slag (million tonnes) in the UK

1 0.4 Blast Furnace Slag

Basic Oxygen
0.8 0.2
Furnace Steel Slag

Electric Arc Furnace

0.6 0.0
Steel Slag

Data for England for 2005 (DCLG, 2007b); data for Wales for 2001 (ODPM, 2002b);
no arisings in Scotland (Winter and Henderson, 2002); no data for Northern Ireland

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 Edinburgh
Central
Scotland

Southern
Scotland Newcastle upon Tyne
North East
Northern
Ireland
Belfast
North West

Yorkshire &
the Humber

Liverpool

North Wales East

Midlands
Norwich
West Birmingham
Midlands East of
England

South Wales

Cardiff London
Bristol
South East
South West Southampton

Plymouth

Figure 7.6 - Total Production of Railway Ballast, Waste glass and Tyres (million
tonnes) in England and Wales

0.6 0.3 Railway Ballast

0.5 0.2 Waste Glass

0.4 0.0 Scrap Tyres

Data for England are for 2005 (DCLG, 2007b) except for tyres, which are for 2001
(ODPM, 2002b); data for Wales are for 2001 (ODPM, 2002b)

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 Highlands &
Islands Aberdeen

North East
Scotland

Edinburgh
Central
Scotland

Southern North East

Scotland
Newcastle upon Tyne
Northern
Ireland
Belfast

Yorkshire &
the Humber
North
West
Preston

Figure 7.7 - Total Production of Railway Ballast, Waste Glass and Tyres (million
tonnes) in Scotland and Northern England (no data for Northern Ireland)

0.6 0.3 Railway Ballast

0.5 0.2 Waste Glass

0.4 0.0 Scrap Tyres

Data for Scotland are for 1999 (Winter and Henderson, 2001); data for England are
for 2005 (DCLG, 2007b) except for tyres, which are for 2001 (ODPM, 2002b)

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7.2 Primary aggregates

7.2.1 Sand and gravel and crushed rock

Primary aggregates can be broadly divided into sand and gravel and crushed rock.
Sand and gravel includes both land-won and marine-dredged material. Crushed rock
comprises a range of rock types, of which the principal categories are:
• limestone (including dolomite);
• igneous (including metamorphic rock);
• sandstone (including greywacke, gritstone and quartzite).

Sand and gravel is used mainly as concreting aggregate. Crushed rock has a wider
range of uses, and is particularly used in highway construction and maintenance,
both as unbound material for capping and sub-base and as coarse aggregate for
asphalt and concrete. Recycled and secondary aggregates will thus be
predominantly competing with crushed rock for use in highways. The relative
availability of crushed rock and recycled and secondary aggregates across the UK is
therefore crucial to the extent that the latter will be used in highway maintenance and
new construction.

Data on the distribution and utilisation of primary aggregates in England and Wales
at a regional level is given by Highly et al. (2003), based on the 2001 aggregate
minerals survey. Some areas of England, particularly London, the South East, East
of England and parts of the North West have limited reserves of crushed rock,
particularly of high quality material. There are large flows of crushed rock into these
regions from adjacent areas with large reserves of crushed rock, particularly from the
East Midlands, South West and North Wales. There are also significant imports of
crushed rock from Scotland into the South East.

The distribution of recycled and secondary aggregates, shown on Figures 7.1 to 7.7,
does not neatly match the gaps in availability of crushed rock. However, there is
significant production of recycled aggregates in the areas with low crushed rock
production, and these materials are likely to be economically favourable in these
areas provided they are of adequate quality (see Chapter 8.1). In urban areas
throughout the UK, recycled aggregates are often likely to be economically
favourable compared to crushed rock because of the reduced distances they have to
be transported. This also aids their sustainability compared to primary aggregates
(see Chapter 9).

Data for primary aggregates is also available at the level of individual Mineral
Planning Authorities (MPAs). These range from County Councils to Unitary
Authorities and some District and City Councils and Metropolitan Boroughs. Some
Regional Assemblies also publish Aggregates Monitoring Reports, with data broken
down to County level or lower, e.g. the South East England Regional Assembly
(2003). These can help in identifying areas where use of recycled and secondary
aggregates would be particularly beneficial economically and environmentally.

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7.2.2 Aggregates for specialist applications: high specification
aggregates for skid-resistant road surfacing
Many aggregates, whether primary, recycled or secondary, will be satisfactory for the
majority of applications in highways and footways. The exception is the surface
course, where the aggregate will be in direct contact with vehicle tyres. Skid
resistance is the essential requirement for aggregates in this layer, but the degree of
skid resistance required depends on the road geometry and the anticipated traffic
load and speed. The aggregate must maintain a high roughness over time and
exposure to traffic to be suitable for use in surface course applications.

The skid resistance of an aggregate is generally measured by a laboratory test called

the Polished Stone Value (PSV). An accelerated polishing apparatus simulates the
action of dust-laden tyres on samples of aggregate set in a polyester resin backing
mounted in standard moulds on a rotating ‘road wheel’. A 200mm diameter by 38mm
broad tyre bears on the aggregate with a total force of 725N. The polish of the
specimens is measured using a standard pendulum arc friction tester. The coefficient
of friction is expressed as a percentage, and this is the PSV; a higher value signifies
greater resistance to polishing. Values over 65 indicate highly polish-resistant rocks
especially suitable for road surface courses in high-risk areas.

High specification aggregates (HSA) are defined as (Thomson et al., 2004):

“natural and artificial coarse aggregates (≥ 3mm) that meet the physical
test criteria set out below and that are suitable for use in road surfacing
(including surface dressing) applications at the more difficult and/or
heavily trafficked sites where high levels of skidding resistance and
aggregate durability are required.”

The specific thresholds used to define HSA by Thomson et al. (2004) are set out in
Table 7.1.

Table 7.1 Limiting values for HSA (from Thomson et al., 2004)

Property Limiting Value

Polished Stone Value (PSV) ≥ 58
Aggregate Abrasion Value (AAV) ≤ 16
Los Angeles Coefficient (LA) ≤ 30
Magnesium Sulfate Value (MS) ≤ 25%

Thomson et al. (2004) estimated that the total ‘specified’ demand for PSV 58+ HSA
in England in 2002 was 6.1 million tonnes. This was 2.3 times greater than the
corresponding figure for England in 1992. There is considerable uncertainty about
future demand, but Thomson et al. (2004) considered it would be prudent to
anticipate a modest increase in demand over the next decade. The proportion of this
demand supplied from sites within England was estimated to be 3.8 million tonnes
(62%). The remainder is supplied from sites in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and
Northern France.

Despite the remarkable diversity of rock types in the UK, relatively few formations
possess all of the characteristics needed to meet HSA requirements. Clastic
sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age or older are particularly important sources of
HSA, because the component grains generally have differing degrees of hardness
and individual grains can be plucked out of the aggregate particles as they wear
away, thus maintaining a rough, sandpaper-like micro texture that is of vital
importance to the maintenance of skid resistance. Of these, greywackes and related

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rock types have the highest overall quality in terms of measured PSV/AAV categories.
Optimum combinations of strength and resistance to polishing are found in a very
limited number of formations, foremost among which are the Carboniferous Pennant
Sandstones of South Wales. Maps showing the location of formations and quarries
capable of producing HSA are given in Thomson et al. (2004). In particular, it should
be noted that for the highest category of HSA with PSV ≥ 68, there are a very limited
number of sources outside South Wales; one quarry in Northern Ireland, one in
Southern Scotland and two in the North West of England.

Steel slag has been shown to have high skid resistance in practice, despite giving
relatively low values of PSV (see Chapter 6.2.14), and BOS steel slag is accepted by
the Highways Agency as equivalent to primary aggregate with a measured PSV
value of 60. EAF steel slag has a typical measured PSV of around 63, but is
produced at only one plant, Templeborough in South Yorkshire. BOS steel slag was
produced in 2002 at Teesport, Santon, Port Talbot, Llanwern and Sheerness on the
Thames Estuary. The Llanwern works has subsequently closed, but some stockpiles
may still be available. Other stockpiles are held at Workington and Barrow in
Cumbria and Ravenscraig in Scotland. Steel slag has to be weathered before use to
allow hydration and expansion reactions to take place, and should always be
obtained from a supplier with a quality control system in place.

Blast furnace slags typically yield PSVs in the range 59 to 64. Calcined bauxite, a
manufactured aggregate, gives PSVs greater than 65.

7.3 Detailed studies of materials available at local level

Most Local Authorities will have a good general idea of the materials available in their
local area, for example any secondary aggregates such as slag, colliery spoil, slate
or China clay sand. However, detailed studies of all the aggregates available in an
area such as a county or smaller are relatively rare. Such studies can be very
valuable as part of an overall strategy by a Local Authority to assess the material
resources in its area, and can enable targets to be set for uptake of specific materials.

An example of such an approach is the Materials Resource Strategy (MRS) carried

out by Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City
Council (Hampshire County Council et al., 2005). This was a stakeholder
consultation process involving community and industry representatives, working in
partnership with the councils to address the issues of minerals and waste using a
material resources management approach. This involved a review of all the materials
and waste streams in the area, an assessment of current recycling rates and
potential recycling rates in 2010 and 2020. As part of this process, a thorough review
of the current and potential arisings of all primary, recycled and secondary
aggregates in the area was carried out, including arisings from highway maintenance
(Sowerby et al., 2005). The findings are summarised in Table 7.2, including targets
under two scenarios:
• “business as usual”; and
• “stretching best practice”.

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Table 7.2 Estimates of Future Use of Recycled and Secondary Materials as
Aggregates in Hampshire (from Sowerby et al., 2005)
Material Estimated Scenario Estimated Estimated
Amount Amount Amount
Recycled in Recycled in Recycled in
2004 (tonnes 2010 (tonnes 2020 (tonnes
per year) per year) per year)
Recycled 500,000 Stretching Best 654,00 750,000
Aggregates Practice
(from Inert
CD&EW) Business as 525,000 550,000
Usual
Highway New 45,000 Stretching Best 100,000 102,000
Works and Practice
Maintenance
Business as 47,500 50,000
Usual
Railway Ballast 140,000 Stretching Best 140,000 140,000
Practice
Business as 140,000 140,000
Usual
Incinerator 1,000 Stretching Best 90,000 90,000
Bottom Ash Practice
Aggregate
Business as 2,000 5,000
Usual
Recycled Glass 0 Stretching Best 15,000 15,400
Practice
Business as 0 0
Usual
Recycled Plastic 0 Stretching Best 1,000 2,000
Practice
Business as 0 0
Usual
Recycled Tyres 0 Stretching Best 5,000 5,130
Practice
Business as 0 0
Usual
Totals 686,000 Stretching Best 1,005,000 1,104,530
Practice
Business as 714,500 745,000
Usual
Total 5,119,500 Zero growth in 5,119,500 5,119,500
Aggregate Use total aggregate
in Hampshire use assumed
Proportion of 13.4% Stretching Best 19.6% 21.6%
Recycled and Practice
Secondary
Aggregates Business as 14.0% 14.6%
Usual

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The proportion of recycled and secondary aggregates currently used was less than
expected; the average for England as a whole is thought to be about 23%, with the
potential to rise to about 30% (Barritt, 2003).

The MRS was used to develop a vision for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton
that “We will change the way we use material resources to maximise efficiency and
minimise wastage”. This holistic approach to sustainability is now being used to guide
the development of the statutory joint minerals and waste development framework for
the area, and feeds down through council objectives into actions at highway
maintenance level (see Box 1.2 and Appendix 2).

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8 Standards and Specifications

8.1 General comments and quality control

In order to carry out highway and footway maintenance and new construction works,
standards and specifications are required to ensure that the materials and methods
are suitable and will produce the required performance. They provide a contractual
framework within which the work must be carried out, and against which the end
product can be assessed. In the past, many standards and specifications excluded
most recycled and secondary materials, largely because of concerns about their
quality and consistency. With the rise of the sustainability agenda in the 1990s, there
was a change of attitude and most standards and specifications now permit the use
of recycled and secondary aggregates subject to safeguards about their quality. It is
therefore now possible to use a much wider range of materials.

Assurance about the quality of recycled and secondary materials can be given by the
use of Quality Protocols, which demonstrate that the supplier has procedures in
place to ensure the consistency and quality of his product. The WRAP Quality
Protocol for the production of aggregates from inert waste (WRAP, 2004b) is an
example; versions of this protocol for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland are available on the AggRegain web site, www.aggregain.org.uk. This covers
many of the materials likely to be encountered in arisings from highway and footway
works, including asphalt planings, concrete and brick, and soil and stones. Waste
Protocols are currently being developed by the Environment Agency and WRAP for a
number of secondary materials that could be used in highway works, including
pulverised-fuel ash, steel slag, incinerator bottom ash, flat glass and shredded or
crumbed tyres. Details are available at http://www.environment-
agency.gov.uk/subjects/waste/1019330/1334884/. Local Authorities should
encourage their suppliers to use these protocols; indeed, they could become a
requirement for supplying materials for Local Authority highway works. This is also
important to ensure that the materials have been fully recovered and are no longer
subject to waste controls (see Section 5.2).

It should not be considered that recycled and secondary aggregates are being
unfairly singled out for special requirements in terms of quality control. Under the
harmonised European Standards for aggregates (see following section), all
aggregates have to be produced under a system of Factory Production Control.
Aggregate producers are used to working with such systems; the issue is that some
small recycling companies, often coming from a waste recovery perspective, are not
and resist what they see as unnecessary impositions and costs on their operations.
However, the materials that they are producing have to fulfil the same functions as
primary aggregates produced by aggregate companies, so the same standards
should apply. All aggregates are equal under the harmonised European Standards,
whether primary, manufactured or recycled, so it is reasonable that they should all
come with the same assurance on quality.

As there have been a number of developments in the standards and specifications

used for highway works in recent years, they are reviewed briefly in the following
sections with specific reference to the use of recycled and secondary aggregates.

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 Box 8.1 Source Approval Scheme in Teeside
In a move to improve user confidence and encourage greater use of
recycled materials, some Local Authorities have established a “source
approval” regime which includes implementation of a quality scheme by
the producer, product testing at agreed frequencies and plant audits, also
inspections by Local Authority representatives.

One example of such a scheme is that operated on Teesside by

Middlesbrough Council’s Laboratory for four Local Authorities in the area.
Six plants in the area have now joined the scheme producing materials
ranging from general fills to sub-base.

User confidence is considered to have increased significantly in the two

years that the scheme has been in operation. (Source: O’Farrell, 2006)

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8.2 Standards

8.2.1 Standard specifications for aggregates

Harmonised European Standards for aggregates were adopted by the aggregate
industry from 1 January 2004, and the corresponding old British Standards were
withdrawn from 1 June 2004. A series of Published Documents (PDs) were issued by
the British Standards Institution (BSI) to give guidance on the use of these European
Standards. The relevant standards and PDs for new civil engineering work, road
construction and maintenance are shown below.
BS EN 12620: 2002 Aggregates for concrete. Aggregates for bituminous mixtures and
surface treatments for roads, airfields and other trafficked areas
PD 6682-1: 2003 Aggregates for concrete – Guidance on the use of BS EN 12620.
BS EN 13043: 2002 Aggregates for bituminous mixtures and surface treatments for roads,
airfields and other trafficked areas.
PD 6682-2: 2003 Aggregates for bituminous mixtures and surface treatments for roads,
airfields and other trafficked areas – Guidance on the use of BS EN
13043.
BS EN 13242: 2002 Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials for use in
civil engineering work and road construction.
PD 6682-6: 2003 Aggregates for unbound and hydraulically bound materials for use in
civil engineering work and road construction – Guidance on the use of
BS EN 13242

These standards cover the properties of natural, manufactured and recycled

aggregates and mixtures of aggregates and filler aggregates. The European
Standards do not impose any barriers to the use of alternative materials; they define
how all aggregates are to be tested and specified. The end-product standard for use
in road construction remains the relevant specification for the construction; on many
projects this is the Specification for Highway Works, and it is in the specification that
restrictions on the use of particular materials can be introduced. However, the
specification must specify aggregates in accordance with the European Standards.

The scope and relevant clauses for aggregates in these standards for various
requirements are indicated in Table 8.1. Table 8.2 is a similar table for fillers which
are relevant to BS EN 12620 and BS EN 13043. The notes in these tables indicate
whether the property requirement is a designated value, a category, maybe with a
tolerance, or a declared value.

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 Table 8.1 Scope and Relevant Requirement Clauses for Aggregates
Essential characteristic BS EN12620 Clause BS EN 13043 Clause BS EN 13242 Clause Notes
Particle shape, size and density 4.2 Aggregate size 4.1.2 Aggregate size 4.2 Aggregate size Designation
4.3 Grading 4.1.3 Grading 4.3 Grading Tolerance/category
4.4 Shape of coarse aggregate 4.1.6 Shape of coarse aggregate 4.4 Shape of coarse aggregate Category
5.5 Particle density/water absorption 4.2.7.1 Particle density 5.4 Particle density Declared value
Cleanliness 4.5 Shell content-coarse aggregate 4.1.5 Fines quality 4.6 Fines content Category
4.6 Fines 4.7 Fines quality Category
Percentage of crushed and 4.1.7 Percentage of crushed and 4.5 Percentage of crushed or Category
broken surfaces in coarse broken surfaces broken, and totally rounded
aggregate particles
Affinity of coarse aggregates to 4.2.11 Affinity to bituminous Declared value
bituminous binders binders
Resistance to fragmentation, 5.2 Fragmentation 4.2.2 Fragmentation 5.2 Fragmentation Category
crushing of coarse aggregate
Resistance to polishing, 5.3 Wear 4.2.3 Polishing Category
abrasion or wear 5.4.1 Polishing 4.2.4 Surface abrasion Category
5.4.2 Surface abrasion 4.2.5 Wear Category
5.4.3 Abrasion from studded tyres Category
Resistance to thermal shock 4.2.10 Thermal shock Declared value
Composition/content 6.2 Chlorides 4.3.2 Chemical composition Declared value
6.3.1 Acid soluble sulfates 6.2 Acid soluble sulphate Category
6.3.2 Total sulfur Pass/fail threshold value
6.4.1 Constituents which alter rate 6.4.1 Constituents which alter Pass/fail threshold value
of setting/hardening of concrete rate of setting/hardening of
hydraulic bound mixtures
6.5 Carbonate content of fine Declared value
aggregate for concrete surfacing
6.3 Total sulphur Category
Volume stability 5.7.2 Vol. stability-drying shrinkage 4.4.3.1 Dicalcium silicate Pass/fail threshold value
disintegration of air-cooled BFS
6.4.2 Constituents which effect Vol. 4.3.4.2 Iron disintegration of air- Pass/fail threshold value
stability of air-cooled BFS cooled BFS
4.3.4.3 Vol. stability of steel slag 6.4.2 Constituents which affect Category
aggregates Vol. stability of blastfurnace
and steel slag for unbound
aggregates
Water absorption 5.5 Particle density/water absorption 5.5 Water absorption Declared value
Durability against freeze/thaw 5.7.1 Freeze/thaw resistance of 4.2.9.2 Resistance to freezing and 7.3.2 Resistance to freezing Category

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 coarse aggregate thawing and thawing
Durability against alkali-silica 5.7.3 Alkali-silica reaction Declared value
reaction
Durability against weathering 4.2.12 ‘Sonnenbrand’ of basalt 7.2‘Sonnenbrand’ of basalt Category
Table 8.2 Scope and Relevant Requirement Clauses for Fillers
Essential characteristic BS EN12620 Clause BS EN 13043 Clause Notes
Fineness, particle size and 4.3.6 Filler aggregate 5.2.1 Grading Pass/fail threshold value
density 5.5 Particle density/water absorption 5.3.2 Particle density Declared value
5.5.6 Blaine test Declared value with
threshold
Cleanliness 4.6 Fines 5.2.2 Harmful fines Category
Stiffening properties 5.3.3.1 Voids of dry compacted Category
filler (Rigden)
5.3.3.2 ‘Delta ring and ball’ of Category
filler aggregate for bituminous
mixtures
5.5.2 Bitumen number of added Category
filler
Water solubility and 5.4.1 Water solubility Category
susceptibility 5.4.2 Water susceptibility Declared value
Composition/content 6.2 Chlorides Declared value
6.3.1 Acid soluble sulfate Category
6.3.2 Total sulfur Pass/fail threshold value
6.4.1 Constituents which alter rate Pass/fail threshold value
of setting/hardening of concrete
Volume stability 5.7.2 Vol. stability-drying shrinkage Pass/fail threshold value
6.4.2 Constituents which effect Vol. Declared value
stability of air-cooled BFS
Porosity/volume of voids 5.3.3.1 Voids of dry compacted Category
filler (Rigden)
Durability against freeze/thaw 5.7.1 Freeze/thaw resistance of Category
coarse aggregate
Loss on ignition (for fly ashes) Declared value
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8.2.2 Standard test methods for aggregates
The above aggregate standards utilise a number of further standards for the actual
testing of aggregates. These tests are for general properties (BS EN 932),
geometrical properties (BS EN 933), mechanical and physical properties (BS EN
1097), thermal and wearing properties (BS EN 1367) and chemical properties (BS
EN 1744). Each of these standards is divided into a number of parts for the individual
tests as indicated below.

BS EN 932 Tests for general properties of aggregates.

1. Methods for sampling.

2. Methods for reducing laboratory samples.
3. Procedure and terminology for simplified petrographic description.
5. Common equipment and calibration.
6. Definitions of repeatability and reproducibility.

BS EN 933 Tests for geometrical properties of aggregates.

1. Determination of particle size distribution. Sieving method.

2. Determination of particle size distribution. Test Sieves, nominal size of apertures.
3. Determination of particle shape. Flakiness index.
4. Determination of particle shape. Shape index.
5. Determination of percentage of crushed and broken surfaces in coarse aggregate
particles.
6. Assessment of surface characteristics. Flow coefficient of aggregates.
7. Determination of shell content. Percentage of shells in coarse aggregates.
8. Assessment of fines. Sand equivalent test.
9. Assessment of fines. Methylene blue test.
10. Assessment of fines. Grading of fillers (air-jet sieving)

BS EN 1097 Tests for mechanical and physical properties of aggregates.

1. Determination of the resistance to wear.

2. Methods for the determination of resistance to fragmentation.
3. Determination of loose bulk density and voids.
4. Determination of the voids of dry compacted filler.
5. Determination of the water content by drying in a ventilated oven.
6. Determination of particle density and water absorption.
7. Determination of the particle density of filler. Pyknometer method
8. Determination of the polished stone value.
9. Determination of the resistance to wear by abrasion from studded tyres. Nordic test
10. Determination of water suction height.

BS EN 1367 Tests for thermal and wearing properties of aggregates.

1. Determination of resistance to freezing and thawing

2. Magnesium Sulfate test
3. Boiling test for Sonnenbrand basalt
4. Determination of drying shrinkage
5. Determination of resistance to thermal shock.

BS EN 1744 Tests for chemical properties of aggregates.

1. Chemical analysis
2. Determination of resistance to alkali reaction (in preparation)
3. Preparation of eluates by leaching of aggregates.
4. Determination of susceptibility of fillers for bituminous mixtures.
5. Determination of acid soluble chloride salts

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8.2.3 Standard specifications for mixtures incorporating
aggregates and test methods for mixtures incorporating
aggregates
These standards for aggregates and aggregate testing are complemented by
standards for unbound, hydraulic bound, bituminous bound and concrete mixtures
and for specific constituents of the mixtures. Some of the more relevant standards
are as follows:

Unbound and hydraulic bound mixtures

BS EN 13055-2: 2004 Lightweight aggregates. Lightweight aggregates for bituminous

mixtures and surface treatments and for unbound and bound
applications.
BS EN 13286 Unbound and hydraulic bound mixtures - Test methods (in 20 parts).

Bituminous bound mixtures and surface treatments

BS EN 58: 2004 Bitumen and bituminous binders – Sampling bituminous binders.

BS EN 1425 – 1431, 12592 – 12596, 12606 (in 2 parts), 12607 (in 3 parts), 12846 – 12850,
13072 – 13075, 13301 – 13303, 13357 – 13358, 13398 – 13399,
13587 – 13589, 13614, 13632, 13702 (in 2 parts), 13703, 14769 –
14771, Bitumen and bituminous binders – various tests.
BS EN 12272 Surface dressing – Test methods (in 3 parts).
BS EN 12274 Slurry surfacing - Test methods (in 8 parts).
BS EN 12697 Bituminous mixtures – Test methods (in 43 parts).
BS EN 13055-2: 2004 Lightweight aggregates. Lightweight aggregates for bituminous
mixtures and surface treatments and for unbound and bound
applications.
BS EN 13179 Test for filler aggregate used in bituminous mixtures (in 2 parts).

Concrete

BS EN 450-1:2005 Fly ash for concrete. - Definition, specifications and conformity

criteria.
BS EN 12350 Testing fresh concrete. (in 7 parts).
BS EN 12390 Testing hardened concrete. (in 8 parts).
BS EN 12504-1: 2000 Testing concrete in structures. Cored specimens. Taking, examining
and testing in compression.
BS EN 13055-1: 2002 Lightweight aggregates. Lightweight aggregates for concrete, mortar
and grout.
BS EN 13877-1: 2004 Concrete pavements. Materials.
BS EN 13877-2: 2004 Concrete pavements. Functional requirements for concrete
pavements.

Surface characteristics

BS EN 13036 Road and airfield surface characteristics – Test methods.

8.3 Specifications
There are a number of specifications that are applicable to highway engineering
construction and maintenance activities.

8.3.1 British Standards

Some specification of materials, mixtures and construction activities are undertaken
through the use of British Standards. Examples of these are given below:

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 Unbound and hydraulic bound mixtures

BS EN 13285 Unbound mixtures. Specifications.

BS EN 14227 Hydraulically bound mixtures. Specifications. (in 10 Parts).

Asphalts and surface treatments

BS 594 Hot rolled asphalt for roads and other paved areas (in 2 Parts, but
due to be withdrawn in 2008).
BS 4987 Coated macadam (asphalt concrete) for roads and other paved
areas. (in 2 Parts, but due to be withdrawn in 2008).
BS EN 13108 Bituminous mixtures – Material specification (10 Parts).
BS EN 12271 Surfacing dressing (in 2 Parts).
prEN 12273 Slurry surfacing (in preparation).

Concrete

BS 8500 Concrete. Complementary British Standard to BS EN 206-1. (in 2

Parts).
BS EN 206-1 Concrete. Specification, performance, production and conformity.
BS EN 450-1 Fly ash for concrete. Definition, specifications and conformity
criteria.
BS EN 13263-1 Silica fume for concrete. Definitions, requirements and conformity
criteria.

8.3.2 Specification for Highway Works

The Specification for Highway Works (SHW) (Highways Agency et al.) is probably the
foremost document for specifying materials and the method of operation for highway
construction. It is published as Volume 1 of the Manual of Contract Documents for
Highway Works and contains 27 Series and 8 Lettered Appendices relating to
different aspects of highway construction. It is published by the Stationery Office and
is available on line at www.standardsforhighways.co.uk. This document is often
either adopted as it stands or used with specific modifications dependent upon the
client authority. The document is divided into a number of series and the relevant
series for pavement construction are as follows.

500 Series Drainage and service ducts

600 Series – Earthworks
700 Series – Road pavements - General
800 Series – Road pavements – Unbound, cement and other hydraulic bound materials
900 Series - Road pavements – Bitumen bound
1000 Series - Road pavements – Concrete materials
1100 Series Footways

500 Series – Drainage and service ducts

This Series covers all items relating to drainage, including pipes (which may be cast
iron, concrete, vitrified clay or plastic), pipe bedding and surround material, filter
drains, gullies, chambers, surface water channels and drainage channel blocks.
Recycled coarse aggregate and recycled concrete aggregate are permitted
constituents for pipe bedding and surround material. It shall have been tested in
accordance with Clause 710 and comply with the requirements of Table 8/3. This
specifies a maximum of 1% by mass for foreign materials including wood and plastic
and a limit of 50% for asphalt. In practice it is likely that high values of asphalt would
not be desirable in pipe bedding material, as it would prevent the material flowing
freely into the trench and potentially lead to long term settlement.

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600 Series - Earthworks
This series defines acceptable and unacceptable materials, bedding material for
pipes, fill for structures and general fills, capping materials, materials for stabilisation,
topsoil material, landscape material and methods of determining material properties.

The SHW requires that all recycled aggregates (RA) and recycled concrete
aggregates (RCA) must be produced in accordance with the Quality Protocol for the
production of aggregates from inert waste published by WRAP (2004b). Clause
601.12 requires that all recycled aggregates used shall have an upper limit of 1% on
other materials (Class X); this is the sum of contaminants such as metal, wood and
plastic. Where recycled aggregates except recycled asphalt are permitted, Clause
601.12 states that the aggregate “shall not contain any mineral aggregate with a
bituminous binder, and the content of all foreign materials shall not exceed 1%”.

The 600 Series has been much less affected by the change to harmonised European
Standards than the other Series. Other than the introduction of Class 6F4 & 6F5, in
which the requirements are set out in accordance with BS EN 13242, the only other
change has been the replacement of the ten percent fines value test with the Los
Angeles test for resistance to fragmentation. Other than composition, the
requirements for recycled and secondary aggregates are exactly the same as for
primary aggregates for all applications. The only exception is Classes 6F4 and 6F5,
capping imported to site, where test methods and limiting values for volume stability
of blast furnace and steel slag are given. These classes were introduced in May 2004
in response to the introduction of harmonised European Standards for aggregates.

700 Series Road Pavements – General

This series contains a clause (Clause 710) on testing for constituent materials in RA
and RCA. The material is sorted into 6 classes, the proportions of which are recorded:

ƒ Asphalt (Class A)
ƒ Masonry (brick and block other than lightweight block masonry) (Class B)
ƒ Concrete and concrete products (Class C)
ƒ Glass (Class G)
ƒ Lightweight block masonry or particles (Class L)
ƒ Unbound aggregates (Class U)
ƒ Other materials (Class X)
These categories are slightly different from those suggested in Annex A of
BS EN 13285: 2003, and the classification scheme set out in BS EN 13285 for
mixtures containing recycled aggregates is not used.

800 Series – Unbound Mixtures

There are five types of unbound sub-base mixtures, each with slightly different
permitted constituents:

ƒ Type 1 unbound mixture shall be made from crushed rock, crushed slag,
crushed concrete, recycled aggregates or well burnt non-plastic shale.
Recycled aggregate shall not contain more than 50% asphalt.
ƒ Type 2 unbound mixtures shall be made from natural sands, gravels, crushed
rock, crushed slag, crushed concrete, recycled aggregates or well burnt non-
plastic shale. Recycled aggregate shall not contain more than 50% asphalt.

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 ƒ Type 3 (open graded) unbound mixture shall be made from crushed rock,
crushed blastfurnace slag or recycled concrete aggregate. Recycled concrete
aggregate shall not contain more than 5% asphalt.
ƒ Category B (close graded) unbound mixture shall be made from crushed rock,
crushed blastfurnace slag or recycled concrete aggregate. Recycled concrete
aggregate shall not contain more than 5% asphalt.
ƒ Type 4 (asphalt arisings) asphalt arisings shall be either asphalt road planings
or granulated asphalt and shall have an asphalt content of greater than 50%.
They may also contain crushed rock, crushed slag, crushed concrete and well
burnt non-plastic shale.

800 Series – Hydraulically Bound Mixtures

Hydraulic bound mixtures may use cement, slag fly ash or other hydraulic bin7der as
the binder and lime, in the form of hydrated lime or quicklime, as an activator. A
range of recycled and secondary aggregates can be used as the coarse aggregate in
these materials. The 800 Series also deals with soils treated with binders for use as
sub-base; soils treated with binders for use as general fill or capping are covered by
the 600 Series.

900 Series – Bituminous bound materials

The 900 series of clauses in the SHW permits the use of RA and RCA in asphalt.
Reclaimed asphalt (recycled asphalt, RAP) may be used in the production of asphalt
surface course, binder course, regulating course and base. The maximum amount of
RAP permitted is 10% in the surface course and 50% in all other layers. There is no
requirement to check the quality of the aggregate in the RAP. It is presumed that,
because the aggregate come from existing pavements or from a material that was
intended for new works, the aggregate quality is adequate for re-use.

1000 Series – Concrete materials

The 1000 Series of the SHW is concerned with concrete road pavements. There are
currently a number of restrictions on the use of aggregates in Clause 1001 of the
SHW. All aggregates must comply with the requirements of BS EN 12620 (2002).

1100 Series – Kerbs, footways and paved areas

Kerbs are generally of concrete. Footways may be either asphalt (bituminous bound
materials) or concrete, and the requirements are similar to those for road pavements
(900 and 1000 Series). Requirements for sub-base are also similar to those for road
pavements (800 Series). Slabs for paved areas may be precast concrete slabs,
natural stone, insitu concrete, clay pavers, concrete blocks or grass concrete.

8.3.3 Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways

This Specification was produced by the Highway Authorities and Utilities Committee
(HAUC) and is used in England and with slight modifications in Wales. The current
edition was published in 2002 Department for Transport, 2002). In Northern Ireland
and Scotland it also has slight modifications and is called the Specification for the
Reinstatement of Openings in Roads. The current editions were published in 2003.

This specification states that:

“An Undertaker may adopt alternative materials, layer thickness and

compaction methods to take advantage of new or local materials and/or
alternative compaction equipment, subject to prior agreement of the Authority

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 which shall not be withheld unreasonably. There shall be no departure from
the performance requirements during the guarantee period.

Recycled, secondary or virgin materials, or any combination thereof, are

permitted by this Specification, provided they meet the performance
requirements and any compositional details required in this Specification for
the relevant material.

Stabilised materials shall be permitted for use as surround to apparatus, and

as backfill and sub-base layers, provided they meet the relevant performance
required in this Specification.

An Alternative Reinstatement Material (ARM) may be used for the entire

surround to apparatus and/or the entire backfill layer.”

The Notes for Guidance to the Specification state that in order to allow ‘new
materials’ to be proven, by development testing, or ‘local materials’ that are known to
give acceptable performance in service, the materials and relevant layer thickness
quoted in the Specification may be amended or supplemented, subject to prior
agreement.

For backfill applications

Alternative aggregates, such as slag, fly ash, clinker and furnace bottom ash, that fail
the 10% fines requirement may still be acceptable if satisfactory performance can be
proved. Chalk may be used as backfill, the application being dependent upon the
density of the material.

For sub-base and base reinstatements

For these reinstatements CBM3 or ARMs may be used. In the new designation of
hydraulic bound mixtures in BS EN 14227-1, a CBM3 would be equivalent to a
CBGM B (C10/12 or T3). It may also be possible to use other mixtures with binders
such as slag (SBM B1), fly ash (FABM1) or hydraulic road binder (HRBBM1) of a
similar class; these mixtures are specified in BS EN 14227 Parts 2, 3 and 5
respectively. These materials have a slower rate of gain of strength and remain
workable for a longer period of time. Thickness designs for these materials are based
on one year strength and the mixtures can be designed to give a range of strengths.

Permanent cold-lay surfacing materials (PCSMs)

Problems can occur with hot-lay materials when only small quantities are required or
the site is remote from the nearest plant. Cold-lay surfacing materials can be
formulated to give performance equivalent to hot laid materials (Burtwell, 1995).
However, the materials need to be adequately compacted to give satisfactory
performance.

Alternative reinstatement materials (ARMs)

New or alternative materials have been, or may be, developed that allow more rapid,
reliable and cost-effective reinstatements, with less dependence on the skill and
physical effort of the operators and have significant environmental and practical
advantages. ARMs require Approval Trials carried out by formal agreement between
the Undertaker and the Authority under Appendix A9 of the Specification for the
Reinstatement of Openings in Highways. Trials have to be carried out to find the
best way of handling the materials to obtain satisfactory performance. Local
Authorities should share the results of such trials with each other and use them as
‘building blocks’, so that with more experience the best methods of working are
determined and used for the benefit of all parties. In an advice note issued in 2007,

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HAUC state that hydraulic mixtures and foamed bitumen mixtures manufactured and
used against the detailed requirements given in the Specification for Highway Works
should not be regarded as ARMs (HAUC (UK), 2007).

ARMs are categorised into two groups:

Structural Materials for Reinstatements (SMRs)

This generic group of materials may be proprietary or alternative bound materials
and may be used as sub-base on any reinstatement or as sub-base and base in
Road Types 1, 2, 3 and 4, that is up to 30msa traffic loading. These may be:
• Foamed Concretes for Reinstatements (FCRs)
• Flowable SMRs (FSMRs)
• Non-flowable SMRs (NFSMRs)
FCRs are cement bound materials prepared off-site, as ‘prescribed’ mixtures and
are flowable with low strengths from 2MPa or 4MPa up to 10MPa at 90 days.
FSMRs and NFSMRs may comprise any type/or combination of aggregates and
binders but may only be used on a trial basis by prior agreement.

Stabilised Materials for Fills (SMFs)

SMFs include materials derived from excavated spoil, virgin, secondary or
recycled materials, or any combination thereof, that have been improved by
processing, re-grading and/or by the inclusion of a binder. They are usually
prepared on site and are non-flowable but may be only used on a trial basis by
prior agreement. They are classified by their ‘soaked’ CBR value and may be
used as surround to apparatus, backfill and/or as sub-base.

8.3.4 TRL 611 – Cold recycling

TRL 611 (Merrill et al., 2004) is a guide to the use and specification of cold recycled
materials for the maintenance of road pavements. It utilises the linear quarry concept
where the existing highway is used as a source of materials and has gained
considerable favour in recent years following the introduction of the first nationally
consistent guidelines in TRL Report TRL 386 (Milton and Earland, 1999).

Cold recycling is evolving into a major construction activity. In situ and ex situ
variants of hot and cold techniques are now all feasible and many organisations can
offer these services. Cold recycling allows for screening and crushing of aggregates
and the ex situ process allows the use of alternative aggregates from sources other
than the existing pavement.

This guide is aimed at ‘end performance’ requirements and sets out design
guidelines and specifications applicable to both in situ and ex situ recycling
techniques. Materials have been divided into families based upon the binder or
binder blend being used in the construction. The guide covers a wide spectrum of
road types from lightly trafficked roads to heavily trafficked trunk roads.

The pavement designs encompass the latest design methodology which utilises the
material properties at one year. This enables the slower curing materials to be used
in an equivalent manner to traditional materials. The material specification focuses on
quality control of the material to ensure that proposals for end-performance made at
the mix design stage are achieved in the permanent works. A Quality Plan, prepared
by the contractor and agreed with the client, forms the core of the Specification for

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cold recycled materials. It covers the entire production process of cold recycled
materials from mix design through to in situ end-product testing.

8.3.5 HD 39 Footway design

HD 39 provides guidance on new footway construction. It suggests various locally
available materials which may be suitable for use as sub-base for footways. These
include:

• Initial sweepings from 10mm and 14mm surface dressing.

• Bituminous planings.
• 20mm and 28mm nominal single sized aggregates (0/20 and 0/28).
• Spent railway ballast screened to remove the 20mm down material which
may contain contaminants.
• China clay sand.
• Crushed kerbstones.
• Slate waste.

When using the above materials, some considerations that should be taken into
account are:

• The blending of aggregates may be beneficial where there is a single size

material as these may be difficult to compact.
• Bituminous planings exhibit considerable resistance to compaction due to
friction of the bitumen coated aggregate; hence, they must be compacted at
optimum moisture content with maximum layer thicknesses of 150mm.
• SHW durability requirements for sub-base still apply.
• Materials that may not remain well drained throughout their design life should
be stabilised.

8.4 Variations to specifications and design guidance

Many Local Authorities have developed variations to the Specification for Highway
Works over the years to suit the materials and conditions prevailing in their area.
Examples are given in Box 8.2 and 8.3.

Design guidance for trunk roads and motorways is given in the Design Manual for
Roads and Bridges, available at
http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/index.htm. Guidance on the use of
specific techniques and materials is given in a number of TRL Reports; those dealing
specifically with recycling and recycled and secondary aggregates are shown in Box
8.4.

If an Authority does not wish to use the SHW then the approach would be to develop
a specification based on functional requirements i.e. what is the finished product
required to do?

This is an approach that draws on performance as the means of specification and in

recent years has become easier to adopt with the development of new test
procedures and the introduction of European Standards. Functional requirements
can be attributed to each of the elements in a road structure as illustrated in Table
8.3.

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In addition to the individual layer requirements specifications should also address:-
• Health and Safety issues for installers and end users,
• End of life issues,
• Minimising the environmental impact of the material,
• Quality Control,
• Acceptance criteria.

Further guidance can also be found on the WRAP AggRegain website.

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 Box 8.2 Variation of Specification to Enable use of Recycled and
Secondary Aggregates by Devon County Council
This case study involved the renovation of a household waste recycling
centre at Okehampton by Devon County Council. The Specification for
Highways Works was used with additions to certain clauses to specifically
reference how and where the sustainable construction materials were to
be used. It was stated that preference must be given in sourcing products
to those which have been produced in a sustainable manner. Products in
this category were classed as those including significant use of recycled
and secondary materials, where minimum energy was used in
manufacture, and where minimal contaminants are used or produced and
where transportation is kept to a minimum. Overriding these conditions
was the criterion for retention of ‘normal’ durability and service life.

The contract was carried out with no additional cost or perceived reduction
in durability. The contractor was encouraged to adopt sustainable policies
through a written agreement and a bonus payment scheme. Recycled and
secondary aggregates were used in several applications, including:
• Recycled asphalt planings as unbound sub-base for flexible and
concrete pavements;
• Recycled glass as coarse aggregate in asphalt binder course;
• Recycled concrete aggregate as coarse aggregate in asphalt base;
• Coarse aggregate from China clay spoil in concrete pavement

The scheme has been a success in various ways – the construction of a

user-friendly and attractive recycling centre has led to a large increase in
the use of the facility. The project has been recognised with a Merit Award
Commended from the Institute of Civil Engineers and a Devon
Environmental Business Initiative Award for Sustainable Development.

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 Box 8.3 Aberdeenshire County Council
Aberdeenshire County Council has developed their own set of
specifications based on the Specification for Highway Works and the
Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. The specifications include the
following statement about the use of recycled/secondary materials:

“The use of recycled materials in carriageway and footway construction will

be favourably considered regarding the following situations, at the
discretion of the Local Roads Authority’s Representative:
(1) Recycled bituminous materials on the base layer of roads designed to
carry up to 1.5 MSA.
(2) Recycled granular materials in sub-base layers and capping layers if in
accordance with the appropriate specifications for grading and frost
susceptibility.
(3) Both recycled bituminous and granular materials will be allowed in
footway, footpath and cycletrack construction.”

The full specification can be viewed at

http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/roads/developments/part123.pdf

Design standards used in the UK have tended to focus on a limited range of

materials which has not encouraged designers to consider alternatives. Recent work
at TRL, sponsored by the Highways Agency, has examined a much wider range of
materials and has developed a versatile design approach to enable their use. This
was published in October 2004 as TRL 615 (Nunn, 2004) and this approach has
been incorporated into the latest revisions of HD25 and HD26.

In recent years there have been developments in the use of hydraulically bound
materials, which can have a number of applications in major and minor roads and
heavy duty paving. Hydraulically bound materials include cement bound material and
materials with secondary binders such as pulverised-fuel ash and steel slag.
Recycled aggregates can often be used as the coarse aggregate for these materials.
They are covered by Series 800 of the SHW and BS EN 14227. WRAP has produced
a technical guidance document and case studies of the use of recycled and
secondary aggregates in hydraulically bound materials, available at
www.aggregain.org.uk.

Further guidance, specific to Scotland, has been developed as part of the Net Pave
project and is available on the AggRegain web site. The document, “A design and
specification guide for Scotland’s road authorities to facilitate use of RSA” (SCOTS,
2006), reflects the desire of the Scottish Executive to encourage the use of recycled
and secondary aggregates in sustainable resource use and to reduce the demand for
primary aggregate extraction. The guidance is based on TRL Reports 611 (Merrill et
al., 2004) and 615 (Nunn, 2004) and introduces the concept of performance
specifications based on analytical design techniques. This guidance could equally
well be used by other Local Authorities as a way of introducing new concepts that
encourage recycling and sustainable construction methods into their own
specifications.

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Table 8.3 Functional Requirements for Pavement Layers (from O’Farrell, 2006)
Layer Definition Requirements
Surface Course The running surface which • Deformation resistance
seals the construction and • Fatigue resistance
provides a smooth ride, skid • Skid resistance
resistance and some • Riding quality
resistance to wear • Workability
• Impermeability
• Noise reduction
• Spray reduction
Binder Course & The main structural layer • Stiffness
Base whose purpose is to • Deformation resistance
distribute stresses induced • Fatigue resistance
by repeated loading over the • Workability
foundation and to withstand • Impermeability
internal stresses without
deformation or excessive
cracking
Sub base A regulated platform of • Strength/Stiffness
consistent strength capable • Stability
of supporting the subsequent • Durability
construction activities. It • Permeability
contributes to the overall
structural strength and
should protect the subgrade
from the ingress of water
Capping Provides a working platform • Strength/Stiffness
for construction and in the • Stability
longer term contributes to • Durability
overall structural strength

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 Box 8.4 TRL Reports Dealing with Recycling
TRL659 Cement kiln dust (CKD) as filler in asphalt, by J C Nicholls, J M Reid, C D
Whiteoak and M Wayman.
TRL 651 Maximising the use of recycled and secondary aggregates: examples
from Hampshire, by J M Reid, J Pittman, C R Sowerby and J Hibbert.
TRL 645 Feasibility of recycling thin surfacing back into thin surfacing systems, by
I Carswell, J C Nicholls, R C Elliott, J Harris and D Strickland.
TRL 639 Guidance on the development, assessment and maintenance of long-life
flexible pavements, by D Merrill.
TRL 638 A model set of asphalt sustainability indicators, by A R Parry.
TRL 630 New continuously reinforced concrete pavement designs, by K E
Hassan, J W E Chandler, H M Harding and R P Dudgeon.
TRL 615 Development of a more versatile approach to flexible and flexible
composite pavement design, by M Nunn.
TRL 611 A guide to the use and specification of cold recycled materials for the
maintenance of road pavements, by D Merrill, M Nunn and I Carswell.
TRL 598 Development of new materials for secondary and recycled aggregates in
highway infrastructure, by K E Hassan, L Elghali and C R Sowerby.
TRL 591 The use of asphalt arisings as Type 4 sub-base, by D P Steele, D J
MacNeil and V Atkinson.
TRL 590 The use of the crack and seat treatment in the refurbishment of airfield
pavements, by P C Langdale, J F Potter and S J Ellis.
TRL 566 Basic oxygen steel slag as surface coarse aggregate: an investigation of
skid resistance, by P G Roe
TRL 519 Specification of pulverized-fuel ash for use as general fill, by M G Winter
and B Clarke.
TRL 505 Swell test requirements for lime stabilised materials, by D J MacNeil and
D P Steele.
TRL 408 Enabling the use of secondary aggregates and binders in pavement
foundations, by V M Atkinson, B C Chaddock and A R Dawson.
TRL 386 Design guide and specification for structural maintenance of highway
pavements by cold in-situ recycling, by L J Milton and M Earland.

Published Project Reports

PPR080 Tyre bales in construction, by M G Winter, G R A Watts and P Johnson.
PPR057 Optimising the use of recycled and secondary aggregates in Hampshire,
by C R Sowerby, J Lovell and J M Reid.
PPR045 Tyre bales in construction: case studies, by M G Winter, J M Reid and P I
J Griffiths.
PPR037 The susceptibility of recycled concrete aggregate to alkali silica reaction,
by AJJ Calder and M McKenzie.
PPR036 The use of recycled concrete aggregate in structural concrete, by AJJ
Calder and CP Roberts.
PPR012 Design guide for pavements incorporating slag-bound mixtures (SBM), by
M Nunn and K E Hassan.

Viridis Reports
VR8 Design guide for applications of sandstone quarry sand in South Wales, by M
J Lamb.
VR5 Civil engineering applications for tyres, by K Hylands and V Shulman.
VR4 The construction industry mass balance: resource use, wastes and
emissions, by R A Smith, J R Kersey and PJ Griffiths.

Other
Recycling in transport infrastructure, by JM Reid and JWE Chandler.

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9 Selecting Materials on the Basis of Environmental
and Sustainability Factors

9.1 General considerations

The previous chapters have considered the technical, contractual and logistic
aspects of recycling and the use of recycled and secondary aggregates. This chapter
considers how the environmental and sustainability effects can be brought into the
decision-making process when selecting materials for highway and footway
maintenance and new construction.

Securing the Future is the UK sustainable development strategy launched by DEFRA

in 2005. It identifies a number of priority areas where action is needed, including:
• Sustainable consumption and production;
• Climate change and energy;
• Natural resource protection and environmental enhancement;
• Sustainable communities.
The Government also developed Building a Better Quality of Life (DETR, 2000), a
strategy for sustainability in construction which is currently under review. A draft
strategy for sustainable construction was issued in 2007 (BERR, 2007), and the final
version is due to be published in June 2008 (see
http://www.berr.gov.uk/sectors/construction/sustainability/page13691.html).

In March 2005 the National Audit Office (NAO) published its report “Improving Public
Services through better construction” (HC 364-1 Session 2004-05,
www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/04 - 05/0405364.pdf). The document
makes a number of recommendations on sustainable construction:
• Recommendation d: “Consider the development of a sustainability action plan
to cover all aspects of construction activity, and to demonstrate how the
department is contributing to the Government’s objectives for sustainable
development. In particular, the development of appropriate project-specific
key performance indicators such as reduced carbon dioxide emissions and
reduced waste to landfill.”
• Recommendation e: “Make decisions about construction projects based on
sustainable whole-life value, using a structured and robust decision-making
process from the outset that identifies the trade-offs between capital costs,
running costs, and social and environmental impacts.”
• Recommendation j: “In support of the Government’s Sustainable
Development Strategy and the commitments made in the White Paper Energy
Efficiency: The Government’s Plan for Action (Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), April 2004, Cm 6168), relevant departments
and authorities should consider developing quantifiable cross-government
strategic targets focused on sustainable construction.”

Local Authorities are crucial to the promotion and implementation of sustainable

development through their activities, including highways maintenance. This is
achieved through setting out high level sustainability objectives and targets and
measurement frameworks. One of the difficulties encountered is however to ensure
that those objectives translate into policies and actions that each department can
implement to contribute effectively to the overall targets.

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Highways maintenance has an important role to play in delivering sustainability,
through provision of a network of local roads fit for purpose that serves the
community and supports economic prosperity but with minimum impact to the
environment.

This section provides information on the environmental issues to be taken into

account to decide upon materials and techniques which maximise sustainability. It
should be noted that by addressing environmental issues, there are a number of
economic and social benefits to be realised for the Council and the local community.

This section also describes some existing tools that can help local authorities’
highways engineers to make the most sustainable decision. The tools also provide a
way to demonstrate and report on how the option contributes to the sustainable
development agenda at local and national level.

The review of those tools has inspired the list of performance indicators and the
sustainability checklist that could be used for monitoring and demonstrating the
sustainability performance of highways maintenance activities and materials. These
tools tie in with existing checklists and indicators used at Council level and by
industry, and take into account existing good practice implemented by local
authorities to improve the sustainability of their highway maintenance operations.

9.2 Maximising the environmental contribution made by highway maintenance

materials

Section 15 of Well maintained Highways identifies a range of relevant issues

affecting the environment including a few directly related to materials and
maintenance techniques:
• noise;
• materials utilisation;
• waste management and recycling; and
• pollution control.

9.2.1 Noise
Noise pollution from traffic can be a very relevant issue for local communities.
Alongside structural intervention such as noise barriers, specific surfacing materials
can be chosen to mitigate the effects of the noise. Porous asphalt, stone mastic
asphalt and some proprietary thin surfacing systems provide a road surface on which
tyres will generate less noise. However the choice of quieter surfacing materials will
also need to take into account other engineering and maintenance requirements
such as skid resistance and whole life value, including maintenance cost.
Furthermore, although quieter surfacing materials might be a more expensive option,
benefits for the local community are likely to outstrip the cost. Tools to quantify the
benefits are discussed later.

Road maintenance operations cause nuisance to local communities, and noise can
be a major issue particularly during night closures. A solution is to try and shorten the
times of the operations. Recycling processes can often be quicker and require less
machinery/trucks movements than traditional methods: for example, in-situ or ex-situ
cold recycling reduces time by around 25% and does not require trucks to take away
planed materials.

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9.2.2 Materials utilisation
Careful choice of materials, considering factors such as the way they are supplied,
location of sources and review of specifications, can contribute to the sustainability
objectives of the Council. The inherent risks associated with adopting new or
alternative materials and/or techniques have been successfully addressed in many
cases throughout the country.

The use of primary materials contributes to the depletion of natural resources and
therefore, wherever possible, their use should be minimised. This implies reviewing
the specifications to consider less stringent requirements and the use of recycled
materials, providing the whole life value and safety performance of the road can be
guaranteed and there are not secondary undesirable effects such as an increase in
pollution from increased transport distances.

Many local authority highways specifications are often based on the Highways
Agency’s Specifications for Highways Works (Moulinier et al., 2006). On one hand
this ensures that safe and tried constructions are adopted but on the other can lead
to cases of over-specification.

Box 9.1 Adopting Leaner Specifications

Cornwall County Council has recognised that safety of local roads where
speed is restricted can still be maintained using aggregates at lower
polished stone value. This has the main advantage of reducing costs,
transport requirements and depletion of very precious natural resources.
Source: Well Maintained Highways.

Years of research and technological advances on recycled and secondary materials

have concluded that they can be used as substitute to virgin materials whilst
maintaining similar performance and often providing cost benefits.
• Road furniture items such as road signs, bollards, lampposts and benches
containing a percentage of recycled materials are now widely available.
Plastic items, made with post-consumer waste offer the advantage of being
low maintenance, thus realising cost savings.
• Similarly, compost and mulching materials for landscaping are likely to be
available from local suppliers, including the Council’s own waste collection
and disposal operations.

Box 9.2 Using Recycled Plastics & Compost in Street Furniture and
Landscaping
- Blackpool Borough Council specified over fifty recycled plastic benches for
use around the town. The benches use 100% plastic recovered from post-
consumer waste. They yield cost savings of £50 a year each compared to a
‘conventional’ bench, as they do not require repainting or regular maintenance.
They also tend to be more vandal- and graffiti-resistant than the conventional
products.
- Cheshire County Council used a locally-produced high quality soil improver
from their waste management contractor for a 1.5 km stretch of hedgerow and
trees along the length of a new £1 million improvement scheme to widen the
A538. The compost is fully certified under the Composting Association’s
certification scheme.
Source: The Big Picture
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Recycled and secondary aggregates have been successfully used in road
construction and the Highways Agency’s specifications now allow for alternative
aggregates to be used within unbound, hydraulically bound and bituminous bound
layers and pavement quality concrete, as indicated in previous chapters.

Specific protocols for particular materials such as the production of recycled

aggregates from inert waste have been developed by WRAP, and protocols for a
number of secondary materials are currently being developed by the Environment
Agency and WRAP (see section 8.1)

The use of these protocols should give clients confidence that the materials and
techniques are fit for purpose. Where necessary, internal procedures, such as
establishing a panel of experts or setting up controlled trials, could be adopted by the
Council to test and evaluate new products and techniques. If the results of trials
carried out by other Local Authorities with similar conditions are available, there may
not be a need for every Local Authority to carry out its own trials. Councils should be
willing to share information with each other and work together to develop sustainable
solutions.

When choosing any material, careful consideration should be given to where it is

supplied from and how it is delivered to the site or depot. Buying recycled materials
really contributes to the sustainability objectives of the Council if:
• there are not leaner construction techniques available, e.g. in situ recycling;
• the recycled materials are sourced locally, to minimise travel distances and to
sustain the local market; and
• they are delivered (or at least part of the delivery journey is made) by a
sustainable mode of transport, e.g. by rail or water rather than by truck, to
minimise pollution, congestion and nuisance. WRAP’s CO2 tool (see
subsection 9.3.3 below) will help in assessing the emissions associated with
transporting aggregates and materials.

9.2.3 Waste management and recycling

Highways maintenance operations can contribute to the Council’s statutory targets
on waste minimisation and recycling. There are also economic drivers and regulatory
constraints, including the cost of disposing of waste at landfill and the need for
separating hazardous waste for disposal in specialist landfills.

Waste minimisation opportunities can be realised through the choice of in situ or ex-
situ recycling techniques, from stabilisation to cold/hot methods for bituminous layers
(shallow and localised for pothole repairs and rejuvenation of surface or deep and
extensive for carriageway reconstruction). They have the additional positive effect of
reducing the need for importing new materials.

Waste that cannot be reused on site should be recycled into the highest value
materials. This means for example ensuring that waste is properly segregated and
stored:
• surface layers containing high value aggregates should be planed away
separately and set aside for recycling into surfacing materials;
• top soil, green waste, bituminous materials, concrete items should be taken
up and kept separated as they yield high value reusable/recyclable feedstock;
• lightweight contaminations, such as plastic, organic matters, should be
separated from the feedstock for recycling.

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Although potentially more expensive, the above practices are cost effective, through
reducing costs of recycling operations – potentially cutting down on sorting and/or
screening – and obtaining higher quality recyclate – less contaminated,
homogeneous in quality and therefore useable in higher value applications.

Ensuring that waste generated in highways maintenance is recycled back into

highways complements the drive from Council’s objectives and targets on using
recycled materials when they are part of a closed loop, where wastes arising locally
are recycled locally. The benefits of this are:
• both sets of statutory targets on recycling and using recycled can be met;
• the local market is stimulated, creating both demand and supply;
• transport is minimised for both waste disposal and sourcing of recyclates.

9.2.4 Pollution control

Materials for highways maintenance can generate pollution through the way they are
transported and/or applied.

As reduction of emissions and improvement of air quality are likely to be

sustainability objectives of the Council, the highways engineers should consider the
construction and maintenance practices which minimise energy use and air pollution.
These include:
• Preferring cold recycling methods to new hot asphalt, which is more energy
intensive;
• Choosing construction practices which require fewer machinery movements
and are quicker;
• Considering how the materials are supplied: transport by road over long
distances generates the most CO2 emissions as well as contributing to
congestion, which in turns affect local air quality.
WRAP’s CO2 tool (see section 9.3.3 below) can be used to compare the emissions of
different construction and materials options.

There are concerns in relation to potential adverse implications deriving from the
chemical composition of some of those materials. Recycled and secondary
aggregates can for example:
• Contain substances that are soluble in water, such as quick or slacked lime,
calcium sulfate, sodium, potassium and magnesium sulfates, iron sulfates,
chlorides and heavy metals;
• Produce fine particles when pulverised during milling off and/or crushing,
which are hazardous when ingested;
• Produce hazardous fumes or exceed their flash point when heating e.g.
during mixing.
Hazardous fumes and dusts and leaching of harmful constituents are both
environmental and health and safety hazards.

Various test methods are available to assess the environmental compatibility of and
health and safety risks associated with aggregates, depending on how and where the
material is to be used and whether the material is collected from known or unknown
sources. Specific limit values for tests and potential uses are determined in function
of the different construction applications (e.g. bound or unbound) and the
hydrological background conditions. Furthermore, the European Directive on the
landfill of waste proposes three levels of test: basic characterisation, compliance
testing and onsite verification.

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British Standards, Highways Agency’s specifications, private and public organisations
such as Shell, TRL and the National Institute for occupational Safety and Health have
published standard test methods to assess hazardous content of fumes, dust and
aromatic compounds, sulphur and sulphide and leachate. A list of tests is provided in
Table 9.1, however the highways engineers should consult contractors, experts
and/or a UKAS- certified test house for the latest test methods.

Table 9.1 Examples of Tests for Hazardous Content and Leachability

Test Description or standard

PAH from coal tar: rapid on site spray Particles of the material to be tested are
test sprayed with a chemical from an aerosol
can. The particles turn a different colour if
PAH is present.
PAH from dust Collect dust samples during various
processes (milling, cleaning, crushing,
etc.) and send for analysis for PAH and
inhalable dust.
Personal exposure to gaseous emissions Shell method AMS 1086-1
Personal exposure to bituminous fumes Shell method AMS 861-3
Determination of sulfates and sulfides BS EN 1744-1 except materials for
structural backfill
TRL447 for materials for structural
backfill
Test on air-cooled blast furnace slag BS EN 1744-1
Leachability tests BS EN 12457-3
BS EN 1744-3

Details on the risk of potential environmental pollution of specific materials are

summarised below;
• Coal tar contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs (see Chapter
5.2). PAHs are liberated only if the tar asphalt is heated up, i.e. during hot
plant mixing or hot in-situ recycling. If the material is encapsulated in a cold
mix process, PAHs will not be liberated.
• No other recycled or secondary material other than recycled asphalt can
potentially produce noxious fumes when heated.
• Hazardous materials can leach out of the pavement after construction due to
contact with moisture and water, particularly from unbound mixtures. However,
leaching from bituminous bound or hydraulically bound materials (including
concrete) is unlikely.
• Consult any COSHH information available from the producer of recycled or
secondary aggregates.
• Recycled aggregates produced under WRAP Quality protocol for the
production of recycled aggregates are regarded as inert by definition and will
therefore not pose any pollution risk.
• Ensure secondary aggregates covered by Environment Agency/WRAP Waste
Protocols (Chapter 6) are handled in accordance with the protocols
• Avoid the use of secondary aggregates such as slags, ashes and colliery
spoil in unbound form below the water table.

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 • Ensure all slags and ashes are properly weathered in accordance with quality
protocols before use
• For materials that contain high concentrations of contaminants, such as slags,
ashes and colliery spoil, consider undertaking a site specific assessment of
the risks of pollution of surface and ground water if the construction is in
sensitive areas such as major aquifers or Sites of Special Scientific Interests
(SSSIs). Knowing the provenance of recycled materials is very important if
pollution or contamination is to be avoided.
• If there are potential concerns, contact the Environment Agency and other
relevant bodies such as Natural England as soon as possible.
• Decide the testing and monitoring regime and acceptable limits on
contaminants on a site specific basis.

9.3 Tools for deciding upon and demonstrating sustainability

The tools reviewed in this section consider different aspects of sustainability in

construction. They are tools already available and/or adopted by contractors either as
voluntary schemes or as compulsory requirements under Highways Agency contracts.
Some of the tools have been specifically built to address sustainability in choice of
materials, while others consider materials within the assessment of the whole project.
Furthermore, some tools consider only some issues while others take into account a
number of environmental, social and economic aspects. Finally, two WRAP guides
illustrate the procurement mechanisms for implementing sustainability in highways
maintenance projects.

Table 9.2 provides an indication of the different applicability and focus of the tools
reviewed.

Table 9.2 Focus and Applicability of the Tools Reviewed

TOOL Focus/applicability
SilVia - Sustainable Road Surfaces for Cost benefits analysis of noise control
Traffic Noise Control measures
Site Waste Management Plans, defra Waste management and recycling in
construction projects
CO2 estimator, WRAP CO2 emissions associated with
construction
ESRSA tool, WRAP Sustainability assessment of aggregates
supply
CEEQUAL All environmental aspects of a civil
engineering project
The Big Picture, WRAP Choice of materials in highways
maintenance
Recycled Roads, WRAP As above, concentrating on procurement

The review of these tools has informed the list of performance indicators and the
sustainability checklist that could be used for monitoring and demonstrating the
sustainability performance of highways maintenance activities and materials.

9.3.1 SILVIA - Sustainable road surfaces for traffic noise control

This European funded project (www.trl.co.uk/silvia) aims to provide decision-makers
with a tool allowing them to rationally plan traffic noise control measures. The main

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deliverable of the project is a "European Guidance Manual on the Utilisation of Low-
Noise Road Surfacings", which integrates low-noise surfaces with other traffic noise
control measures including vehicle and tyre noise regulation and traffic management.
The project also developed a cost benefit analysis procedure in a downloadable
Excel spreadsheet (http://www.trl.co.uk/silvia/silvia/pages/contents_part1.html) which
evaluates low-noise surface against other means of noise reduction and provides a
cost benefit balance of implementing each measure. It is also complemented by a
number of guidance documents on specification of low-noise surfaces, measurement
methods and safety.

The cost / benefits balance is calculated on the basis of inputs such as area and
traffic data (e.g. density of dwellings, traffic levels and speed) and road data
(construction costs, noise characteristics etc.) and takes into account the whole life
cost of the low noise surface layer, as compared to alternative noise mitigation
measures such as noise barriers and double glazing. An example of the output is
shown on Figure 9.1.

9.3.2 Site Waste Management Plans

Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) are an important tool for construction
companies and their clients, of all sizes, to improve their environmental performance,
meet regulatory controls and reduce rising costs of disposing of waste. The Plans
and Code of Practice were launched by the DTI in July 2004
(http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk//resources/publications/view.jsp?id=2568)
and extensively trialled by the industry in England and Wales. DEFRA has now
established Site Waste Management Plans as a regulatory requirement for industry
(Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, Chapter 16 Part 5 “Waste”),
under the Site Waste Management Plans Regulations 2008 (The Stationery Office
Limited, 2008). The Regulations and associated draft non-statutory guidance can be
downloaded at www.defra.gov.uk/constructionwaste. It is expected that draft
Regulations for Wales will be issued for consultation in 2008. The Scottish Executive
consulted on the introduction of SWMPs from August to December 2005 (A
Consultation Paper on the Sustainable Management of Waste from Business and
Public Sector Organisations in Scotland, available from
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/08/05101728/17300) whilst the
Sustainable Construction Group within the Department for Finance and Personnel
has published in February 2006 a tailored version of the SWMPs to suit the legal
situation within Northern Ireland (available at www.cpdni.gov.uk/scg_guide_(swmp)-
2.doc).

The aim is that construction companies will use SWMPs throughout a project to keep
a record of the waste arising on sites and the way they are managed
(reused/recycled on site, sent for reuse/recycling off site, disposed of). This allows
clients to monitor the performance of the project against recycling targets, as well as
verify compliance with environmental regulations and acknowledge minimisation of
costs and risks. It also allows contractors to track their waste arisings and quantify
savings from waste minimisation and recycling.

SWMPs are compulsory in England for all construction projects above £300,000
(excluding VAT). A simplified version is required for projects between £300,000 and
£500,000 in value, and a full SWMP for projects above £500,000. For many routine
highway maintenance activities therefore SWMPs will not be applicable. However,
they are likely to be required for major maintenance and new construction

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Figure 9.1 Sample of the Output Sheet from SilVia’s Cost Benefit Analysis Toolkit. Source: Guidance Manual for the Implementation
of Low-Noise Road Surfaces.
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schemes, and have been used by contractors on a voluntary basis on some major
schemes for the Highways Agency.

9.3.3 CO2 Estimator tool

The CO2 estimator tool has been developed by C4S for WRAP and it is freely
available for download from the Sustainability module of the AggRegain website
(www.aggregain.org.uk), which also contains the user guide and some case studies
exemplifying its application.

The tool aims at estimating the savings in CO2 emissions that can be realised by
using recycled and secondary aggregates (RSA) and/or in situ recycling techniques
in unbound, bituminous bound, hydraulically bound and concrete applications. The
users input technical details of the construction project (such as quantities of and
distances travelled by the materials used) for one or all of the applications and can
choose up to three different construction options (e.g. using hot or cold asphalt
mixing, mix-in-place or mix-in-plant mixtures, different % of RSA, different binders
etc.). The calculations are performed using the users’ data and information held in a
database that the users can access and improve through adding any process data
(e.g. energy consumption of certain pieces of equipment) they might have.

The tool provides estimates of CO2 emissions associated with each option and
demonstrates which of the alternative constructions will minimise CO2 emissions. The
results are shown in an output sheet that provides details on the savings realised for
each application and for the whole project. Users can also access the background
calculations to find out which processes contribute the most to the total emissions. In
general, road transport and hot techniques are the most energy intensive processes:
the choice of local materials and cold techniques can therefore contribute
substantially to the minimisation of CO2 emissions.

9.3.4 Environmental Sustainability of Recycled and Secondary

Aggregates (ESRSA) Tool
Developed by Viridis (now part of C4S) for WRAP, this tool is freely downloadable
from the Sustainability module of the AggRegain website (www.aggregain.org.uk),
which also contains a walkthrough example and a user guide. The tool assesses the
sustainability of the supply of aggregates to a construction site. The users input their
details in a number of on-screen forms choosing amongst e.g. alternative suitable
materials, geographical origin of the supplies, different scoring on the suppliers’
environmental and health and safety record etc.

For each alternative aggregates supply, the tool uses the information to assign a
score to each of nine indicators covering environmental, social and economic
sustainability (Table 9.3). The nine scores, opportunely weighted to reflect the users’
priorities, are used to draw a radar diagram. The scoring system is built so that the
smaller the area of the resulting diagram, and the lower the overall score, the more
sustainable the choice of supply.

The indicators, which were agreed with a panel of industry experts, consider the
environmental, social and economic impacts of the chosen aggregates and their
supply. So for example, materials that are sourced locally would score better on local
employment than materials sourced from far away; recycled/ secondary materials
score the lowest (i.e. the better) on natural resources used etc.

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 Box 9.3 Rehabilitation of the A6116 Rockingham Road
The stretch of A6116 north of Corby was in structurally poor condition and
required major reconstructive intervention. The client, Northamptonshire
County Council worked with the supply chain to find a solution that was fit
for purpose whilst having a high component of material reuse. On-site ex-
situ recycling for the base and binder course materials and a hot-mix
surface course that included 20% recycled materials were selected in
preference to conventional reconstruction.

The WRAP CO2 estimator tool was used to compare the recycled material
option chosen by the team with a traditional primary material alternative to
estimate any difference in carbon dioxide emitted. The tool was employed
to analyse two options as follows:
• Option 1 – The traditional maintenance option with primary
aggregates for the bituminous bound materials (hot mix).
• Option 2 – As built option with recycled asphalt used for 100% of
the base course aggregates (cold mix) and 20% for the hot mix
surface course.
The outputs generated are:
Comparison with the
Bituminous application
As built option
Conventional
Maintenance Option
184 t CO2 +127 t CO2
(Hot mix base
course)
As Built cold
recycled option
(100% recycled
Cold mix base 57 t CO2 -
course 20%
recycled hot mix
surface course)

A large proportion of the difference in CO2 emissions, 127 tonnes, results

from the different method of producing the base course. The standard full
reconstruction with all primary aggregates would have used a hot mix
process and the as built used a cold mix process incorporating the
recycled aggregate. Source: AggRegain

Table 9.3 Indicators used in the ESRSA Tool

Environmental CO2 emissions
Natural resources used
Energy
Water
Environmental / Social Road transport equivalent
Environmental Management System
Social Health and Safety
Social / Economic Local employment
Economic Price per tonne

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 Box 9.4 Sustainable Supply of Aggregates to a Road Construction
Site in the West Midlands
The ESRSA tool is used to demonstrate the different sustainability rating of
primary, recycled and secondary materials that could be supplied to a road
maintenance project in a rural setting in West Midlands. The tool identifies
automatically which aggregates are likely to be available for the application
chosen: in this case, rolled asphalt binder course. The user selects asphalt
planings as recycled materials and primary aggregates sourced within the
West and East Midlands. It is assumed that the primary aggregates travel
by rail to a railways depot within 20 miles from the construction site, and
are delivered to the road works by truck.

The user provides some information on likely relative price of aggregates,

on likely effect on the local employment and on performance of the
suppliers on health and safety and environmental management system -
the tool however provides some defaults based on common industry’s
practice. The results of the sustainability assessment are shown below in
Figure 9.2. The use of recycled asphalt clearly gives the lowest overall
score, and is the most sustainable option out of those tested.

9.3.5 The Civil Engineering Environmental Quality and Assessment

Scheme (CEEQUAL)
This scheme, developed by a team led by the Institution of Civil Engineers with public
financial support and highly recognised within the industry, assesses and awards
high environmental quality on civil engineering projects. It can also be used as a
checklist to ensure the delivery of high environmental quality within a project. More
information on how to apply for an award can be found at www.ceequal.com.

The checklist used within CEEQUAL is very comprehensive and can be used at
different stages of the project, with the involvement of the client, the designer and the
contractor. It considers, within others, the following issues:
• Project environmental management: on the need for environmental risk
assessment, the influence of procurement and contractual processes,
minimisation of emissions, the human environment;
• Water issues: control of a project’s impact on, and protection of, the water
environment, minimising water usage, legal requirements;
• Energy: in use and performance on site;
• Use of materials: minimising quantity and impacts of materials used, waste
minimisation, reuse and recycling, durability and maintenance;
• Waste: legal requirements, on-site waste management;
• Transport: minimising impacts of construction transport;
• Nuisance to neighbours: including minimisation of nuisance from construction
noise, vibrations, and pollution to air.

An example of the scoring system used by CEEQUAL with regard to recycled

aggregates is shown on Figure 9.3.

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Figure 9.2 Sustainability Assessment of Aggregates Supply using the ESRSA Tool
Recycled asphalt planings (RAP) Limestone/dolomite: East Midlands Land-won: East Midlands
CO2 CO2
CO2 3 3
2
Health and safety 2.5 EMS Health and safety 2.5 EMS
Health and safety 1.5 EMS 2 2
1.5 1.5
1
1 1
0.5 Local employment 0.5 Water Local employment 0.5 Water
Local employment Water
0 0 0
Price per tonne Energy Price per tonne Energy Price per tonne Energy
Equivalent road Resource (natural Equivalent road Resource (natural raw Equivalent road Resource (natural
transport raw material) use transport material) use transport raw material) use
AREA=20 AREA=33 AREA=33
Limestone/dolomite: West Midlands Land-won: West Midlands
CO2 CO2
3 CO2
3 1
Health and safety 2.5 EMS 2.5 Health and safety 0.8 EMS
Health and safety EMS
2 2 0.6
1.5 1.5 0.4
1 1
Local employment Water Local employment Water Local employment 0.2 Water
0.5 0.5
0 0 0
Price per tonne Energy Price per tonne Energy
Price per tonne Energy
Equivalent road Resource (natural Equivalent road Resource (natural
Equivalent road Resource (natural transport raw material) use transport raw material) use
transport raw material) use
AREA=35 AREA=38 KEY
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Figure 9.3 Sample of a CEEQUAL Question (from AggRegain)

Sections 8 and 9 of CEEQUAL deal with materials and waste respectively. The
maximum score available under the Material Use section is 95 points, whilst up to 88
points can be scored in the Waste Management section. Direct, yes/no questions
obviously score 0 for negative answers, while open questions reward achievements
proportionally, as shown above in Figure 3. Relevant CEEQUAL questions and
maximum scoring are:
CEEQUAL reference Question Maximum points
scenario (points)
Percentage of non
contaminated 100% re used on site
8.2.3:
excavated material (7)
beneficially reused:
Separation of topsoil
8.2.4 and subsoil for reuse Yes (5)
after construction
Beneficial reuse of
8.2.5 All on site (3)
topsoil
Percentage by volume
of materials (excluding
8.4.2 bulk fill and sub-base) 90% and above (8)
made from reclaimed or
recycled materials
Percentage by volume
60% and above for
of bulk fill and sub-base
8.4.3 material generated on
material made from
site (6)
recycled material
Percentage by volume
of components used
that can be easily
8.7.2 separated at demolition 90% and above (6)
stage into material
types suitable for
recycling
Principles of waste
minimisation
incorporated in the
9.1.2 Yes (5)
design of the project
and for the construction
work.
Documented
mechanism for
Adopted and adhered
9.1.3 adopting waste
to (8)
hierarchy to waste
minimisation
Proportion by volume of
material present on site
9.3.3 that has been 60% and above (4)
incorporated into the
project
Percentage by volume
of waste from
9.3.4 10% and less (10)
demolition taken to
landfill.
Percentage of inert and
other non-hazardous
waste materials
9.4.3 segregated on site 85% and above (7)
and/or sent for
reprocessing or
recovery

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9.3.6 The big picture: specifying recycled in local authority
contracts for highways maintenance
This good practice guide, published by WRAP in 2004, is specifically aimed at Local
Authorities and provides practical information on the sustainability benefits of
specifying recycled, the cost-competitive options available and the contractual
arrangements that help in maximising the benefits of using recycled. Numerous good
practice examples demonstrate how local authorities throughout the country specify
and procure recycled while dealing with any associated risk.

The guide also contains a section on Quick Wins – i.e. product options with recycled
content that are currently available and offer significant cost and performance
advantages – in carriageway and non-carriageway (e.g. landscaping, street furniture)
applications, with case studies illustrating their use.

9.3.7 Recycled roads: a step-by-step guide to local authority

procurement
Recycled Roads is a procurement guide that presents a model approach to ensure
that recycling and reuse of road materials is embedded in all highways contracts and
schemes. The document built on a series of events for Local Authorities (Recycled
Roads) that ran in 2005 and 2006 around the UK. The two series of workshops, with
national and local experts as invited speakers, addressed the benefits of using
recycled materials in highways and street maintenance. The presentations from the
2006 series of events and the procurement guide can be downloaded from the
Recycled Roads section of the AggRegain web site
(http://www.aggregain.org.uk/recycled_roads_1.html).

The guide identifies phases and players in the procurement process where measures
should be implemented to ensure sustainable materials and construction practices
are used:
• The three procurement phases start from the setting of strategic objectives on
waste minimisation and recycling and targets for highways construction. The
guide illustrates how the objectives and targets are embedded into tender
specifications and evaluation and contracts. Finally, the guide considers the
construction phase and deals with supply chain management and risk.
• The chain of players illustrate how objectives set at local authority level
become policies and actions in the environment, highways and procurement
department and are implemented at contract managers/engineers and
contractors level.

9.4 Proposed Key Performance Indicators

Appendix 1 contains a list of key performance indicators (KPIs) developed in
consultation with the DfT, the UK Roads Board, Local Authorities and industry
representatives. The proposed indicators have been drawn from previous studies
and examples of best practice within Local Authorities. They tie in with statutory
indicators and KPIs adopted by the construction industry (materials producers and
contractors) (Parry, 2005).

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The summary companion document to this publication, “Sustainable Highways” (DfT,
2008) contains a set of Key Performance Indicators for sustainability and a proposed
sustainability index, based on milestones for sustainability with respect to different
layers of the roads structure and KPIs.

9.5 Climate Change

In the near future, it is likely that climate change will influence the choice of materials
that are used in construction and maintenance. Current research indicates that
climate change will take the form of wetter but warmer winters with less ice and snow,
with drier and hotter summers with higher, more extreme temperatures. There may
also be increased storminess. Consequently, the Local Authority Engineer will need
to consider these long term factors, as well as sustainability, when selecting
materials to be used in a construction or maintenance project. Another research
project being carried out for DfT has identified seven aspects of climate change that
are likely to have significant effects on road construction and maintenance over the
next 50 years. These are listed in Table 9.4 with an indication of the issues affecting
choice of materials that the Engineer may need to consider when making his final
decision. It should be noted that this list is not definitive and is likely to change as
time goes by and as research into the long term effects of climate change develops.

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 Table 9.4 Climate change issues to be considered for selection of materials

Climate change prediction/forecast Possible sustainability

considerations for choice of
materials
Wetter winters • How durable is cold recycled
pavement material if there is
more moisture around?
• Advantages of lime/cement
stabilisation of subgrade (but
caution with respect to sulfates).
• Check adhesion of RA and RCA
to bitumen compared to primary
aggregates, consider other RSA
as well.
• Free draining materials may be
more suitable for unbound
applications; need to adjust
grading envelopes to reduce
fines.
Warmer winters (less ice & snow) • Frost heave less of an issue with
fine grained materials e.g. PFA,
crushed brick.
• Increased moisture levels in the
pavement structure may cause
problems.
Drier summers • May need more stabilisation of
clays in embankments to avoid
shrinkage and swelling
Hotter summers • May cause problems with
bitumen but not with aggregates.
• May want to choose light
coloured aggregates or those with
low coefficient of thermal
expansion.
Increased storminess • No perceived implication for
choice of materials as yet.
Changed seasons • Principally affects surface course;
most RSA not suitable for use in
surfacing
Diurnal & other cyclical fluctuation • Durability of materials important,
especially those with high water
absorption values (includes most
RSA)

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9.5 Conclusions on environmental and sustainability factors
Highways maintenance contributes to the achievement of the Council’s sustainability
objectives and targets through for example selecting materials and construction
practices which maximise environmental, social and economic benefits.

The guiding principles in choosing a sustainable material should be:

• Review local specifications to ensure over-specification is minimised and
leaner construction adopted where applicable: this will contribute to reduce
cost and save precious resources;
• Consider construction techniques that use less imported materials, such as
soil stabilisation and in situ recycling: this will realise savings in landfill
charges and use of natural resources and considerable reduction of truck
movements;
• Consider the environmental impact of using recycled and secondary materials,
e.g. potential for leaching from unbound materials in areas of sensitive
surface or groundwater.
• Seek to maximise the opportunities for recycling highways maintenance
waste: this is a cost effective way to minimise waste disposal and contribute
to the Council’s recycling targets;
• Where possible use locally recycled materials: this will contribute to the local
economy as well as helping the Council towards its targets;
• Carefully consider the secondary effects of using recycled materials imported
from distant sources: emissions from transport and associated congestion
need to be taken into account.
• Consider the impact of climate change on your choice of materials and
techniques over the long term.
• Use the milestones and KPIs in “Sustainable Highways” to set targets and
measure progress.

A number of tools to help in assessing and/or measuring the sustainability of

highways construction project, materials and/or techniques are available (see Table
9.1). They can help in quantifying the sustainability indicators which this guide
proposes (Appendix 1), as developed in cooperation with the DfT, the UK Road
board and industry stakeholder.

Figure 9.4 is a decision-making support matrix which summarises the issues

considered in this section and highlights areas where the tools described can be
used.

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Figure 9.4 Decision Support Matrix for Sustainable Selection of Materials for
Highway Works

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10 Conclusions: how to build a sustainable road
The previous chapters have shown in some detail how sustainable choices of
materials can be made for individual layers in a highway or footway pavement or
particular techniques for maintenance and new construction. The availability of
recycled and secondary aggregates has been described, issues of appropriate
standards, specifications, quality control and design methods presented and ways of
quantifying the environmental benefits with various tools discussed. The overarching
issues of corporate objectives and procurement strategies to deliver them have been
described and a range of possible Key Performance Indicators presented.
Throughout, a number of case studies have been presented to illustrate particular
aspects and a decision support process map has been included. The answers to
specific questions on the detail of how to build a sustainable road can, hopefully, be
found in the report. A general overview of the process is now given.

The first point is that making sustainable choices about materials for highway and
footway maintenance and new construction is not something that should be done in
isolation or on a case-by-case, opportunistic basis. This will result in only limited
improvements and will soon run up against the many barriers to innovation that exist
in Local Authorities and all large organisations such as:
• lack of appropriate standards, specifications and design guides;
• concerns about quality and variability of recycled materials;
• concerns about experience and ability of contractors with new techniques;
• concerns about long term durability of new materials or methods;
• concerns about adequate supplies of suitable materials;
• in some cases, concerns about waste management regulations or public
reaction;
• concerns about increased costs;
• logistical difficulties in making changes when most works are small scale and
geographically spread out;
• difficulties with changing established ways of working and term contracts to
accommodate new methods – why make life difficult?

These are just some of the obstacles that can be encountered by the enthusiastic
convert to recycling; Biczysko (2006) provides a more detailed analysis of the
problems and also the potential solutions.

The solution lies in approaching the problem from the top down, rather than from the
bottom up. By making a link to Local Authority corporate objectives, which generally
include sustainability, a focus can be brought on the whole process of highway and
footway maintenance, what it is for and how it can be achieved, which allows
sustainability to influence the whole process, rather than trying to tack it on at the end.
The choice of materials and techniques can then be looked at logically in this overall
context, as part of the process, and much greater changes can be achieved as a
result. Some examples of Local Authorities that have followed this route are given in
Chapter 1, and many more are given in the WRAP publications “recycled roads: a
step-by-step guide to local authority procurement” (2005a) and “The big picture”
(2004a). Readers are referred to these publications for details of how to set up and
carry through this process, including methods of procurement and the setting of Key
Performance Indicators. Suggestions are given below for the key steps in the
process:

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 • Get support from the top for the key objectives; if the senior officers and
elected members can see the benefits and approve the strategy, there is
much more chance of making significant changes. Recycling is in tune with
public concerns and expectations, so is something that most Local Authorities
will be keen to promote to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.
• Get all the key players involved at an early stage to discuss how the
process of highway and footway maintenance can be made more sustainable.
Whether this is through a formal partnering arrangement or informal working
groups is less important than making sure that meaningful discussions take
place. This will not only generate more ideas for recycling, it will make it
easier to implement new methods than imposing them on reluctant officers,
contractors and suppliers who do not see the reason for the changes and
have not been involved in the process. This is in line with Early Contractor
Involvement on more major contracts.
• Consider appointing a ‘champion’ to lead up sustainability within the
highways department and ensure liaison between all internal and external
stakeholders (see Box 10.1). Learn from the experience of the Waste
Management and other departments in terms of encouraging recycling.
• Look at what is appropriate for your area, in terms of available materials
and techniques in relation to the network and traffic loads you are likely to
experience. Learn from the experience of neighbouring Local Authorities and
bodies such as the Highways Agency who may be carrying out relevant works
in or near your area. This may involve making a quantitative assessment of
likely arisings from your own highway and footway works and the availability
of recycled, secondary and primary aggregates in the area.
• Liaise with other departments in your Local Authority to maximise value.
The Planning Department will have information on sources of primary
aggregates and recycling facilities for other materials. Parks and Countryside
Departments may be carrying out small scale works and may either be able to
supply materials from their works or use surplus materials from yours.
Departments such as Estates, Waste and Education may be constructing
access roads and car parks for various facilities, and these provide
opportunities for recycling.
• Ensure that you have adequate logistic support for recycling activities.
The first priority is to maximise value from the arisings from highway and
footway maintenance. This involves segregating the materials, either on site
or at storage facilities where the materials can be crushed and screened for
reuse in new works. Strategically located recycling facilities are required, and
these will need appropriate planning permission and waste management
licences or exemptions. Senior officers, elected members and the Planning
Department must understand the need for these facilities and be willing to
support new ones where necessary.
• Work out a plan for maximising recycling in the light of the available
facilities. This should start with reusing arisings at as high a level as possible,
and then extend to using recycled or secondary aggregates in preference to
primary ones where appropriate. The WRAP CO2 estimator tool can be used
to compare various options and provide evidence for senior officers, elected
members and the public as to which are more environmentally sustainable.
This has to be balanced against the cost, but there will generally be
agreement between the most economic option and the one generating the
lowest CO2 emissions, as transport is one of the main factors in the
generation of emissions.
• Do not be afraid to use primary aggregates if analysis shows this to be
more sustainable. The source of materials with the least transport distance to

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 the works will generally be the most sustainable. Especially in many rural
areas, this may be local sand and gravel or hard rock quarries.
• Agree a strategy and set appropriate Key Performance Indicators. These
should be selected with care to be relevant, easy to measure and as close as
possible to information that is already being recorded. They also should be as
few as possible to be consistent with getting a good measure of progress; if
too many KPIs are set, they will inevitably start to work against each other at
some point and cause confusion.
• Insist on an appropriate level of quality control from suppliers of recycled
or secondary aggregates. This should not be an issue with large national
companies, but may be more of a problem for small local companies with a
waste management rather than aggregate production background. Go
through the WRAP quality protocol with them and agree an appropriate level
for the works in which the materials will be used. It is a tool to be used, not a
stick to beat them with, and will enable them to produce higher quality
materials for a wider market.
• Keep track of materials use on your projects, either through site waste
management plans for larger projects or simpler materials use sheets (see
Box 10.2).
• Create a recycling culture throughout your department, and in particular
encourage the people at the sharp end who have to carry out the work or
inspect it. This may involve formal training sessions, but it is most important to
get the atmosphere right and demonstrate commitment. Most people will be
keen to do something to reduce CO2 emissions, and many will have pressure
from the local population to act more sustainably. Be open to suggestions for
ways to make things work better on the ground, so that it is not just something
imposed from above.
• Monitor progress and celebrate success, both within the team and more
widely throughout the Local Authority; this will help to enthuse people and
build wider support for the strategy.
• Aim for continual improvement, but set realistic targets. After a few years
the “quick wins” will be exhausted and more fundamental changes may be
required. Plan for these, and involve key stakeholders at an early stage so
that an appropriate strategy can be developed and implemented.

If these principles are followed then considerable advances in recycling can be

achieved, as many Local Authorities have already shown. The specific choice of
materials and techniques fits logically within this larger overall process, and can be
advanced by the methods described in this document.

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 Box 10.1 Implementing Recycling in Gloucestershire County
Council’s Highway Maintenance Works
Gloucestershire County Council had a term maintenance contract with
Ringway until 2006 and a term consultancy contract with Halcrow till the
same date. To bring a fresh approach to cooperative working in the
provision of highway maintenance services, in July 2000 these three
organisations established the Gloucestershire Highways Partnership.
Following a Best Value review in 2002, a new policy was developed on
using recycled materials:

“The Partnership shall incorporate as much reused and recycled material

as possible into construction and maintenance works on the
Gloucestershire network where this can be done without undue detriment
to the permanent work or significant increase in overall cost.”

Measures were put in place to implement the policy through design

procedures, measurement and payment and by setting targets for the
amount of material recycled over a three year period. A ‘champion’ was
appointed in May 2003 from within the Partnership in order to lead and
steer the recycling initiatives and report to the Partnership Board. The
champion has been instrumental in increasing the rate of recycling. The
Partnership has proved highly effective at recycling, and targets for future
years were revised upwards after the success of the first year.

Key lessons:
• Appoint a champion;
• Get buy-in/ownership from a partnership agreement;
• Agree priorities and secure commitment within the Council, at a
high level.

Source: recycled roads (WRAP, 2005)

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 Box 10.2 Material Data Sheets used by Hampshire County Council
To ensure highway maintenance projects are delivered in a sustainable
way a best practice checklist with supporting tools is under development.
Currently only being used in-house on a few trial schemes, the checklist
and tools are intended to be cascaded to other sections in the Environment
Department at Hampshire County Council.

The checklist is based upon Hampshire’s 12 themes of sustainable

development. It is a project based audit form recording progress and
development of best practice to ensure the project is sustainable for the full
life of the scheme.

The supporting tools include Material Use sheets which are to be

completed at key project stages with.
• Preliminary Design Quantities
• Detailed Design Quantities
• Tender Quantities
• Start Quantities
• Completion Quantities

The record sheets split materials on a project into three categories:

• Materials on site for reuse
• Materials on site for disposal
• New materials required for site

The benefits of recording this information derive from the ability to:
• Link surplus materials from one site to another
• Reduce new material requirement
• Promote increased lifecycle

The system has the advantage of being compatible with the requirements
for site waste management plans (see Chapter 5.2), although many of the
individual projects will be below the threshold for which these would be
compulsory. They enable the Council to keep track of their material
arisings and ensure they are used in the most sustainable manner.

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Acknowledgements
This report has been produced by TRL Limited under contract PPRO 04/37/04 for the
Department for Transport. Any views expressed in it are not necessarily those of the
Department. The work was carried out by the C4S, the Centre for Sustainability, a
Division of TRL Limited. The authors are grateful to Dr Derek Carder who was the
Technical Referee for the project and to Dr Cliff Nicholls and Peter Roe who critically
reviewed the report.

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APPENDIX 1 Sustainability Key Performance
Indicators

A.1 Introduction
This appendix presents a list of sustainability Key Performance Indicators that can be
used by Local Authorities’ officers to monitor and enhance the performance of their
highways maintenance operations, in particular with respect to choice of materials
and construction techniques.

The list has been originally prepared by reviewing existing Local Authorities’ and
industry’s practices as well as recent guidance developed by the DfT and WRAP.
The KPIs are also to be discussed by a panel of stakeholders in a dedicated
workshop. It is important that KPIs are selected that are relevant to the work, easy to
measure and meaningful. KPIs should only be set where they can help to improve
the process and demonstrate progress; they are not an end in themselves.

A.2 How to use the KPIs effectively

The OGC –Defra’s Joint note on environmental issues in purchasing

(www.ogc.gov.uk) shows how environmental issues can be considered at each stage
of the procurement process (Figure A.1).

Figure A.1: Including Environmental Issues in the Procurement Process

Source: Joint note on environmental issues in purchasing, OGC – DEFRA 2003

Considering environmental and wider sustainability issues as soon as possible in the

procurement process is crucial to ensuring their delivery. KPIs should be set/used at
the “Identifying needs” stage of the process to inform the setting of requirements in
the “Specification” stage. Informing the tenderers about the KPIs/checklist and/or

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using the information from the tenders to estimate, if possible, what performance
could be achieved can help in adding value to the tendering, selection and evaluation
process. Finally, the KPIs will be used during and/or at the end of the contract to
monitor and manage its performance.

While the indicators are useful to measure and monitor performance, a sustainability
checklist should be used to appraise single schemes or the maintenance service as a
whole so as to ensure that the effects of the construction are considered and
mitigation actions taken. This is also part of the improvement process and fits in with
sustainability assessments of local plans which Councils are required to conduct
under the Strategic Environmental Assessment Regulations.

A.3 Key Performance Indicators

The Recycled Roads guide (WRAP, 2005a) provides clear guidance on how to go
about setting targets and KPIs. Elected members, Chief Executives and Heads of
Departments set targets as part of the core objectives of the local authority. Targets
at high level will then need detailed contributions from all the departments, including
highways maintenance. Therefore the highways department will set its appropriate
targets e.g. on recycling, waste minimisation, responsiveness in interventions within
the framework of the Council’s own targets. Heads of highways and contract
managers then set KPIs to measure the performance against those targets.

The targets can be outcome based or specific. Outcome-based targets (e.g. overall
recycling targets, considering all materials used in highways maintenance) leave the
initiative to the supply chain partners’ technical expertise. More specific targets (e.g.
percentage of asphalt planings recycled into binder course; percentage of compost to
be used in landscaping works) give more control to the authority to stress certain
needs (e.g. to use local arisings, to ensure that recycled materials are used in high
value applications).

Setting targets needs to take into account:

• What is already achieved, i.e. the baseline: e.g. average closure hours for
resurfacing works; recycled materials use in bituminous layers; site waste
reused; etc.
• What good and best practice targets are achievable, considering technical
constraints and local situation/market: e.g. limits set by the specifications for
surface course; workability limits; available local materials; type of contract;
ability of the supply chain; etc.
• What timeframe is to be set to achieve best practice targets, e.g. setting year
on year improvement targets?

Examples of target settings

The following table shows an example of targets setting for a highway maintenance
contractor who has been given annual percentage targets.
KPI Minimum KPI Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Construction waste to
x tonnes x-5% x-10% x-20%
landfill
Value of construction
material used from
secondary and recycled y% y+7% y+15% y+23%
sources, as % of total
material value

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 Source: Recycled Roads

The targets constitute one of three elements defining the KPIs, the other two being
(Recycled Roads, WRAP 2005a):
• A clear definition of the KPIs, e.g. percentage of recyclate by value (or by
weight, as percentage of the total value (or weight) of materials used; amount
of waste sent for recycling;
• How will it be measured and by whom, e.g. using Bill of Quantities, Waste
Transfer Notes.

The following is a list of KPIs which refers directly to sustainability in construction

layers, i.e. to either material choices or construction choices. The list is a portfolio of
suggested KPIs to choose from through a scoping exercise, i.e. by considering the
relevance to the local situation or the scheme. The KPIs shown are either outcome
based or specific; they might either be suitable to measure the performance of the
whole service (usually for a financial year, but also on a monthly basis; it could also
be applied to partnering contracts) and/or are applicable more specifically to a certain
scheme. The proposed KPIs are subdivided into primary, related directly to waste,
recycling and materials use, and secondary, related to secondary effects.

PRIMARY KPIs
• WASTE
o Percentage of arisings to landfill;
o Percentage of arisings that are not disposed of to landfill;
o Percentage of waste reused;
o Percentage of waste recycled;
o Percentage of savings realised;
o Construction waste.

• RECYCLING
o Percentage of recycled materials used by volume or value;
o Percentage of imported recycled materials by volume or value;
o Percentage of recycled and secondary materials in each construction
application;
o Percentage of in-situ recycling;
o Percentage of ex-situ recycling;
o Percentage of work (value) specified for recycling;
o Satisfaction in relation to recycling.

• MATERIALS
o Percentage of all aggregates sourced within a XX miles/km radius;
o Natural material savings:
o Cost savings in comparison to conventional methods/materials.

SECONDARY KPIs
o CO2 emissions savings;
o Vehicle movements savings;
o Disruption;
o Percentage of heavy vehicles taking back haulage to and from site;
o Number of innovations;
o Public awareness of recycling;
o Environmental policies and plans.

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 EXAMPLE OF SPECIFIC KPIs
The following is a list of specific, recipe-based KPIs that are used by Devon
County Council for monitoring the performance of their contractor.
o Percentage by mass of recycled and secondary material in unbound
aggregates used for all sub-base and capping works;
o Percentage by mass of recycled and secondary material in bituminous-
bound aggregates used in all footway and pavement works;
o Percentage by mass of recycled and secondary material in cement-
bound aggregates in all structural and non-structural concreting works;
o Percentage by mass of all bituminous-bound aggregate derived from
recycled glass of domestic origin;
o Percentage of all kerb and edging length laid that is derived from reused
or factory seconds sources.
Source: Recycled Roads

A.4 Further information on the Key Performance Indicators

Waste KPIs:
• Percentage of arisings to landfill;
• Percentage of arisings that are not disposed of to landfill;
• Percentage of waste reused;
• Percentage of waste recycled;
• Percentage of savings realised;
• Construction waste.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF ARISINGS SENT TO LANDFILL

DEFINITION: TREND:
Amount of waste generated during Decreasing to demonstrate that
highways maintenance operations waste minimisation, reusing and
that is disposed of to landfill recycling measures have been
compared with total arisings. successfully implemented.
MEASURE:
Quantity of waste as reported in
CALCULATION:
Waste Transfer Notes for disposal
Quantity of waste as reported in Waste
to landfill, for the scheme/project or
Transfer Notes disposed of to landfill as
during a month or year.
percentage of the total quantity of waste
Total arisings of waste (as recorded),
arisings (as recorded).
for the scheme/project or during a
month or year.

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KPI: PERCENTAGE OF ARISINGS THAT ARE NOT DISPOSED TO LANDFILL

DEFINITION: TREND:
Amount of waste generated during Increasing to demonstrate that
highways maintenance operations waste reusing and recycling
that is not disposed of to landfill, measures have been
compared with total arisings. successfully implemented.
MEASURE:
CALCULATION:
Quantity of waste as reported in
Quantity of waste as reported in Waste
Waste Transfer Notes for disposal
Transfer Notes not disposed of to
to landfill, for the scheme/project or
landfill as percentage of the total
during a month or year.
quantity of waste arisings (as recorded).
Total arisings of waste (as
Waste not landfilled equals to total
recorded), for the scheme/project or
waste arisings minus waste landfilled.
during a month or year.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF WASTE REUSED

DEFINITION:
TREND:
Amount of waste generated during
Increasing to demonstrate that
highways maintenance operations
waste reusing measures have
that is reused, compared with total
been successfully implemented.
arisings.
MEASURE:
Quantity of waste as reported in
Waste Transfer Notes for disposal
to landfill, for the scheme/project or
during a month or year.
CALCULATION:
Quantity of waste as reported in
Quantity of waste as reported in Waste
Waste Transfer Notes for recycling
Transfer Notes not disposed of to
off site, for the scheme/project or
landfill and not recycled as percentage
during a month or year.
of the total quantity of waste arisings (as
Quantity of waste recycled on site
recorded).
as recorded, for the scheme/project
or during a month or year.
Total arisings of waste (as
recorded), for the scheme/project or
during a month or year.

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KPI: PERCENTAGE OF WASTE RECYCLED

DEFINITION:
TREND:
Amount of waste generated during
Increasing to demonstrate that
highways maintenance operations
waste recycling measures have
that is recycled, compared with total
been successfully implemented.
arisings.
MEASURE:
Quantity of waste as reported in
Waste Transfer Notes for recycling
CALCULATION:
off site, for the scheme/project or
Quantity of waste recycled off site and
during a month or year.
on site as reported in Waste Transfer
Quantity of waste recycled on site
Notes and other records as percentage
as recorded, for the scheme/project
of the total quantity of waste arisings (as
or during a month or year.
recorded).
Total arisings of waste (as
recorded), for the scheme/project or
during a month or year.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF SAVINGS REALISED

DEFINITION:
TREND:
Cost savings realised through
Increasing to demonstrate that
avoidance of waste landfilling
economic benefits of diversion
compared to potential total costs of
of waste from landfill.
landfilling.
MEASURE:
Charges for landfilling, per tonne.
Actual cost for landfilling waste CALCULATION:
disposed of (both hazardous and Savings realised through not disposing
non-hazardous), for the of waste as percentage of the potential
scheme/project or during a month cost of disposing to landfill the total
or year. waste arisings. Savings are calculated
Actual cost for recycling and as the difference between potential
reusing waste, for the landfilling costs if all waste arisings
scheme/project or during a month were landfilled and the actual costs of
or year. reusing, recycling and landfilling waste.
Total arisings of waste (as
recorded).

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KPI: CONSTRUCTION WASTE

TREND:
DEFINITION:
Decreasing to demonstrate that
Amount of material wasted as a
waste minimisation measures
proportion of amount of
have been successfully
materials/products purchased.
implemented.
MEASURE:
Charges for landfilling, per tonne.
Actual cost for landfilling waste CALCULATION:
disposed of (both hazardous and Savings realised through not disposing
non-hazardous), for the of waste as percentage of the potential
scheme/project or during a month cost of disposing to landfill the total
or year. waste arisings. Savings are calculated
Actual cost for recycling and as the difference between potential
reusing waste, for the landfilling costs if all waste arisings
scheme/project or during a month were landfilled and the actual costs of
or year. reusing, recycling and landfilling waste.
Total arisings of waste (as
recorded).

Recycling KPIs:
• Percentage of recycled materials used by volume or value;
• Percentage of imported recycled materials by volume or value;
• Percentage of recycled and secondary materials in each construction
application;
• Percentage of in-situ recycling;
• Percentage of ex-situ recycling;
• Percentage of work (value) specified for recycling;
• Satisfaction in relation to recycling.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF RECYCLED AND SECONDARY MATERIALS USED

DEFINITION:
Amount of recycled and secondary TREND:
materials purchased for highways Increasing to demonstrate
maintenance operations compared commitment to improvement.
to total materials purchased.
MEASURE:
Quantity/value of recycled and
CALCULATION:
secondary materials bought for the
Quantity/value of recycled and
scheme/project or during a month
secondary materials bought as
or year.
percentage of the total quantity/value of
Total quantity/value of materials
materials purchased.
bought for the scheme/project or
during a month or year.

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KPI: PERCENTAGE OF IMPORTED RECYCLED AND SECONDARY
MATERIALS 2
DEFINITION: TREND:
Amount of recycled and secondary Decreasing to demonstrate
materials imported within the total commitment to recycling on site
amount of recycled and secondary and/or of waste generated on
materials purchased. site.
MEASURE:
Quantity/value of recycled and
CALCULATION:
secondary materials bought from
Quantity/value of recycled and
elsewhere for the scheme/project or
secondary materials bought from
during a month or year.
elsewhere as percentage of the total
Quantity/value of recycled and
quantity/value of recycled and
secondary materials bought for the
secondary materials purchased.
scheme/project or during a month
or year.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF RECYCLED AND SECONDARY MATERIALS IN EACH

CONSTRUCTION APPLICATION 3
DEFINITION:
Amount of recycled and secondary TREND:
materials in each construction Increasing to demonstrate
application compared to total commitment to using recycled.
components.
MEASURE:
Quantity/value of recycled and
secondary materials bought for CALCULATION:
each application within the Quantity/value of recycled and
scheme/project or during a month secondary materials bought for each
or year. application as percentage of the total
Total quantity/value of materials quantity/value of materials in each
bought for each application within application.
the scheme/project or during a
month or year.

2
This indicator aims at encouraging recycling on site and/or of waste generated on site,
therefore closing the loop for waste management on site. This indicator should be associated
with the KPI on locally sourced materials (see below).
3
See the example of specific KPIs in Section A.3 above.

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KPI: PERCENTAGE OF IN-SITU RECYCLING
TREND:
DEFINITION: Increasing to demonstrate
Quantity of materials recycled on commitment to maximise close
site compared to total materials loop recycling and minimisation
recycled. of secondary effects (e.g. lorry
movements).

MEASURE: CALCULATION:
Amount of materials recycled on Amount of materials recycled on site in
site in the scheme/project or during the scheme/project or during a month or
a month or year. year as percentage of total materials
Total materials recycled. recycled.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF EX-SITU RECYCLING

TREND:
DEFINITION: Decreasing to demonstrate
Quantity of materials recycled off commitment to maximise close
site compared to total materials loop recycling and minimisation
recycled. of secondary effects (e.g. lorry
movements).

MEASURE: CALCULATION:
Amount of materials recycled off Amount of materials recycled off site in
site in the scheme/project or during the scheme/project or during a month or
a month or year. year as percentage of total materials
Total materials recycled. recycled.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF WORK SPECIFIED FOR RECYCLING

DEFINITION: TREND:
Percentage of recycling specified as Increasing to demonstrate
value of work, for a scheme/project commitment to maximise
or during a period of time. recycling.

MEASURE:
CALCULATION:
Value of recycling
Value of recycling as percentage of total
Total value of work in the period or
value of work.
for the project specified.

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KPI: SATISFACTION IN RELATION TO RECYCLING

DEFINITION: TREND:
Client satisfaction that recycling Increasing to demonstrate the
targets have been met. delivery of recycling.

MEASURE:
CALCULATION:
Achievement of recycling targets
Number of recycling targets met.
set by the client.

Materials KPIs
• Percentage of all aggregates sourced within a XX miles/km radius;
• Natural material savings;
• Cost savings in comparison with conventional methods/materials.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF ALL AGGREGATES SOURCED WITHIN A XX 4

MILES/KM RADIUS.
DEFINITION:
Quantity of aggregates (primary,
TREND:
secondary and recycled) that have
Increasing to demonstrate
been quarried/processed in
commitment to using local
locations within a set distance, as
materials.
compared to total aggregates
bought.
MEASURE:
Amount of primary, secondary and
recycled aggregates sourced from
CALCULATION:
materials recycled off site in the
Quantity of aggregates sourced locally
scheme/project or during a month
as percentage of all aggregates supplied
or year.
to the scheme or during a set period.
Total aggregates used for the
scheme/project or during a month
or year.

4
Distances should be set by the user of the KPI taking into account the setting of the project
or the character of the area under consideration.

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KPI: NATURAL MATERIALS SAVINGS
TREND:
DEFINITION:
Increasing to demonstrate that
Quantity of natural materials saved
waste recycling and
by using recycled and secondary
minimisation of natural resource
aggregates and/or sustainable/lean
use measures have been
construction techniques.
successfully implemented.
MEASURE:
Quantity of recycled and secondary
CALCULATION:
aggregates used in the
Sum of recycled and secondary
scheme/project or during a month
aggregates plus amount of materials
or year.
that would have been needed with
Amount of materials that would
conventional techniques (as opposed to
have been needed with
lean construction).
conventional techniques (as
opposed to lean construction).

KPI: COST SAVINGS IN COMPARISON WITH CONVENTIONAL

METHODS/MATERIALS
DEFINITION:
Savings realised by using recycled
TREND:
and secondary aggregates or other
Increasing to demonstrate that
sustainable/lean construction
sustainable construction
techniques in the scheme/project or
methods realise economic
during a month or year, compared
benefits.
to traditional aggregates and
techniques.
MEASURE:
Cost of recycled and secondary
aggregates and/or sustainable/lean
construction techniques used in the
CALCULATION:
scheme/project or during a month
Difference between costs for
or year.
conventional and cost for sustainable
Cost of conventional aggregates
aggregates and techniques.
and/or construction techniques that
would have been used in the
scheme/project or during a month
or year.

Secondary KPIs
• CO2 emissions savings;
• Vehicle movements savings;
• Disruption;
• Percentage of heavy vehicles taking back haulage to and from site;
• Number of innovations;
• Public awareness of recycling;
• Environmental policies and plans.

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KPI: CO2 EMISSIONS SAVINGS
DEFINITION:
Savings in CO2 emissions realised
by using recycled and secondary TREND:
aggregates or other Increasing to demonstrate that
sustainable/lean construction sustainable construction
techniques in the scheme/project or methods realise additional
during a month or year, compared environmental benefits.
to traditional aggregates and
techniques.
MEASURE:
CO2 emissions associated with the
use of recycled and secondary
aggregates and/or sustainable/lean CALCULATION:
construction techniques used in the Difference between CO2 emissions
scheme/project or during a month associated with the “as-built” (i.e.
or year. including recycled aggregates and
CO2 emissions associated with the sustainable/lean techniques) and the
use of conventional aggregates “business as usual” (i.e. conventional
and/or construction techniques if techniques and materials) scenario
they had been used in the
scheme/project or during a month
or year.

KPI: VEHICLE MOVEMENTS SAVINGS

DEFINITION:
Savings in vehicle movements
realised by using recycled and TREND:
secondary aggregates or other Increasing to demonstrate that
sustainable/lean construction sustainable construction
techniques in the scheme/project or methods realise additional
during a month or year, compared environmental benefits.
to traditional aggregates and
techniques.
MEASURE:
CALCULATION:
Vehicle movements to and from site
Difference between vehicle movements
associated with the use of recycled
associated with the “as-built” (i.e.
and secondary aggregates and/or
including recycled aggregates and
sustainable/lean construction
sustainable/lean techniques) and the
techniques used in the
“business as usual” (i.e. conventional
scheme/project or during a month
techniques and materials) scenario. NB:
or year.
vehicle movements are number of times
Vehicle movements to and from site
trucks enter or leave the site for
associated with the use of
delivering of materials and equipment or
conventional aggregates and/or
collection of waste. A truck delivering
construction techniques if they had
materials to site and leaving it empty
been used in the scheme/project or
accounts for two vehicle movements.
during a month or year.

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KPI: DISRUPTION

DEFINITION: TREND:
Cumulative length of time roads are Decreasing to demonstrate that
closed during daytime for a sustainable construction
scheme/project or during a month methods realise additional
or year. benefits.

CALCULATION:
MEASURE:
Sum of number of day-time hours of
Number of hours between 7am and
closure for a project or during a
7pm roads are closed due to works.
month/year.

KPI: PERCENTAGE OF HEAVY VEHICLES TAKING BACK HAULAGE TO AND

FROM SITE
DEFINITION:
Number of vehicles both entering TREND:
and leaving the site full during the Increasing to demonstrate that
works for a scheme/project or sustainable construction
during a month or year, as methods realise additional
compared to total vehicle environmental benefits.
movements.
MEASURE:
CALCULATION:
Number of vehicles delivering
Number of vehicles that take back
goods to site and taking back waste
haulage (e.g. delivering recycled
during the works for the
aggregates and tasking back suitable
scheme/project or during a month
waste for processing) as proportion of
or year.
total number of vehicles that enter the
Total number of good vehicles
site.
entering the site.

KPI: NUMBER OF INNOVATIONS

DEFINITION:
TREND:
Number of new techniques and
Increasing to demonstrate
materials that are implemented
commitment to innovation.
during a year.

MEASURE:
Number of techniques and materials CALCULATION:
that had never been used by the Each new material and/or new technique
Council before for highways account for one innovation.
maintenance.

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KPI: PUBLIC AWARENESS OF RECYCLING
DEFINITION:
Number of publications that TREND:
publicise the use of recycling in Increasing to demonstrate
highways maintenance operations commitment to communication
for sachem/projects or during a of achievements.
year.
MEASURE:
Number of articles in local or
CALCULATION:
national newspaper and magazines,
Sum of number of publications focusing
leaflets, public presentations, press
on recycling activity.
releases where recycling in highway
maintenance operations is reported.

KPI: ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND PLANS

DEFINITION: TREND:
Policies and plans demonstrating Increasing to demonstrate
the commitment of the supply chain commitment to sustainability
to environmental sustainability. throughout the supply chain.

MEASURE:
Number of contractors with sound
environmental policy and/or
CALCULATION:
Environmental Management System
Sum of number of contractors within the
in place; number of environmental
supply chain who have or implement
action plans (e.g. waste
sound environmental policies and plans.
management plans, biodiversity)
implemented during the works for a
project/scheme or during a year.

A.5 Key Performance Indicators used by the construction industry

The construction industry has adopted KPIs to monitor measure and benchmark their
performance, within the framework for the delivery of continuous improvement and
accountability. The most relevant schemes and selected KPIs are described in the
following subsections.

A.5.1 Constructing Excellence in the Built Environment

(www.constructingexcellence.org.uk), a cross sectoral organisation which involves
government, industry, clients and research bodies, publishes each year a series of
KPI Wallcharts. The KPIs, developed from the late ‘90s, are used by the construction
industry to measure its performance. Constructing Excellence collects those data
each year through a survey to generate graphs, contained into appropriate wallcharts,
which can be used by organisations to benchmark their performance against the rest
of the industry or sector. The available wallcharts are:
• All Construction,
• Respect for People,

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 • Environment,
• Construction Consultants,
• M&E Contractors,
• Construction Products Industry.

The most relevant set of indicators that contractors involved in highways

maintenance might use for measuring the sustainability of the choice of materials and
construction techniques are included in the Environment and Construction Products
Industry wallcharts (the latter is described in the following subsection). Other
indicators are available on economic and social impacts and performance of the
whole construction project and contractor respectively.

The environment KPIs are:

• Impact on the environment of the product and the construction: based on
client’s satisfaction that the building/structure has been built in respect of the
environment (e.g. emissions, water usage, energy usage has been minimised
from design and/or on site);
• Energy use: forecast/designed energy used by the facility;
• Energy use in construction;
• Mains water use (forecast/designed);
• Mains water use in construction;
• Waste: materials removed from site during construction;
• Commercial vehicle movements: number of vehicles coming into site to
deliver e.g. materials and plant and to collect e.g. waste;
• Impact on biodiversity: based on client’s satisfaction that impacts on
biodiversity were taken into account/minimised in the delivery of the facility;
• Area of habitat created or retained: difference between wildlife valuable space
before and after the construction;
• Whole life performance: based on client’s satisfaction that the issue has been
taken into account in the delivery of the facility.

A.5.2 The Construction Products Industry KPIs

The Construction Products Industry (CPI, http://www.constructionproducts.org.uk/) ,
in its drive for improvement within the Constructing Excellence initiative, has set up a
series of key performance indicators and a sector-wide benchmark system, similarly
to the wider construction industry’s system described above. The industry measures
the indicators annually, and the CPI collects the information from its members to
produce the benchmark for the following year. These indicators can be used by the
construction products’ suppliers to demonstrate their performance to the clients, as
demonstration to their commitment to sustainability and improvement.

Alongside KPIs on client satisfaction (e.g. on product quality, after sales, value for
money) and respect for people (e.g. on safety, training, equality and diversity of
people within the industry), there are five main KPIs and five secondary performance
indicators SPIs (indicators of the performance of an activity that is of secondary
importance to success) described in Table A.1 below.

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Table A.1 CPI’s Environmental KPIs and CPIs
Key Performance Indicator Details
Energy consumption Energy efficiency, measured as the
energy consumed at manufacturing sites
(converted in kg of CO2) per tonne of
production output.
Packaging management Amount of packaging used per tonne of
production output.
Transport movements Number of transport movements by road,
rail, water or other for transporting
products and by-products from the site
per tonne of production output.
Waste reduction Level of waste leaving the site as a
percentage of the total production output.
Water usage Water efficiency, measured as volume of
water brought into site from controlled
waters (mains, abstracted water) per
tonne of production output.
Secondary Performance Indicator Details
Energy consumption – renewable and It is measured as the percentage of kWh
alternative sources bought from renewable sources of
energy, e.g. wind power, solar power,
hydroelectric.
Water usage – water recycling on site Amount of water recycled on site being
kept within a closed loop system.
Waste reduction – waste avoidance Amount of material being recycled on site
and used again in the manufacturing
process against the total amount of
output.
Waste reduction – use of recycled Amount of recycled material from other
materials processes used as raw materials in the
manufacturing processes.
Packaging management – reuse of Amount of packaging returned and
packaging reused by the company (e.g. pallets,
drums)

A.5.3 The Highways Agency’s”motivating success” performance

management toolkit
The HA has developed this toolkit to measure and manage the performance of the
supply chain involved in the delivery of the Agency’s contracts within the Early
Contractor Involvement scheme. Contractors for local highways maintenance
schemes who are/have been involved in major HA projects are likely to be already
measuring a number of performance indicators which can be useful for monitoring
aspects of sustainability linked to their culture, e.g. health and safety and
environmental awareness of the personnel. There are also some project specific
indicators on whether environmental impacts of the whole project have been taken
into account – although detailed sustainability impacts linked with the choice of
materials are not as yet taken into account.

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A.5.4 Proposed asphalt industry sustainability Key Performance
Indicators
TRL Report 638 (Parry, 2005) suggests a list of sustainability KPIs for the asphalt
industry. The indicators recommended have been sourced and opportunely adapted
from the CPI’s set of indicators, considering those that are relevant and discarding
those not really applicable (e.g. “Packaging Management”). The most relevant ones
are shown in Table A.2.

Table A.2 Selected Proposed KPIs for the Asphalt Industry

Key Performance Indicator Measurement diagnostic
1. Energy consumption in production of Energy consumed at manufacturing sites
asphalt per tonne of production (converted in kg of CO2) per tonne of
asphalt produced.
Energy consumption includes electricity,
gas oil, fuel oil, natural gas, any other
source of energy (e.g. residual fuel oil).
2.Transport movements of asphalt per Number of transport movements by road,
tonne rail, water or other for transporting
products and by products from the site
per tonne of production output.
3. Secondary and recycled material Recycled asphalt (not including
used in production (expressed as a planings);
percentage of total production) Secondary materials: glass, steel slag,
blast furnace slag; foundry sand, asphalt
planings, any other.
6. Waste produced per tonne of Tonnes of inert and tonnes of hazardous
production. waste.

A.5.5 Quarry Products Association Performance Indicators

In March 2006 the Quarry Products Association (QPA, www.qpa.org) produced the
first Sustainability Report of the aggregates industry, following on from its
Sustainable Development Strategy published one year before. The QPA compiled
the report through a survey of the UK industry for the year 2004, obtaining a
response rate equivalent to 64% of the total UK market share. The performance
indicators used for this first Sustainability Report are listed below, subdivided in
indicators for social progress, environmental protection, natural resources and
economic prosperity.

The QPA is committed to produce this report every year and improve the response
rate of its members, in the understanding that the collection and monitoring of the
data for this report involves significant managerial commitment by the QPA members.

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Table A.3: QPA Sustainability Performance Indicators
SOCIAL PROGRESS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Natural environment:
• Sites with certified environmental
management system
• Number of convictions for pollution
and planning infringements for
locations surveyed
Health and safety:
• Tonnage of quarry waste (non-mineral
• Number of RIDDOR incidents
waste) going to landfill as a proportion
of production tonnage
Working with the community:
• Recorded complaint from the local
Restoration of land:
community per location
• Land being quarried
• Sites with a community/liaison group
• Land restored
• Percentage of quarries with
• Land prepared for quarrying by soil
community/liaison groups
removal
• Educational visits
• Ratio of land restored to land
prepared to quarrying by soil
Partnership with stakeholders:
removal
No performance indicators at present
Biodiversity and geodiversity:
Heritage:
• Trees planted
• Number of archaeological
• Hedgerow planted
investigations per annum
• Designated Sites of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSIs) in each condition
category

Transport of aggregates:
Under development.
NATURAL RESOURCES ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
Resource conservation: Providing essential materials:
• Tonnage of aggregates produced • Tonnage of aggregates produced
and landed • Volume from land sources
• Volume from land sources • Volume from marine sources
• Volume from marine sources • Proportion from recycled and
• Proportion from recycled and secondary sources
secondary sources • Per capita production
• Per capita production in GB • Primary aggregates use relative to
• Water use metered/charged construction
consumption per tonne of total • Total aggregates use relative to
production construction
• Energy use, CO2 kg per tonne of • Employment, total
total production (NB: excludes
transport) Employment:
• Aggregates sector share of UK • Employment levels (direct and
carbon emissions indirect)

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APPENDIX 2 Linking corporate objectives to highway
maintenance practice: Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council is a prime example of how sustainability aims and
objectives can be fed down the chain from a Corporate Strategy to Highways
Maintenance operations. All information displayed below was taken from the
Hampshire County Council website (www.hants.gov.uk) prior to July 2006.

Until July 2006 Hampshire County Council outlined six strategic aims in their
Corporate Strategy. These are:
1. Maximising life opportunities;
2. Stewardship of the environment;
3. Achieving economic prosperity;
4. Building strong and safe communities;
5. Improving services; and,
6. Developing councillors and staff.

Aim 2 of the Council’s Corporate Strategy was to protect the environment by

promoting the principles of sustainable development. This aim was further broken
down into three themes:
1. Shaping our surroundings;
2. Travel and transport; and,
3. Natural resources.

Theme 3 contains the most relevant objectives to Highways Maintenance operations

(see Table A.4 below).

The objectives outlined in Table A.4 have been fed down to the Highways Policy
Document, which outlines what sustainable development means for highways
operations (Box A.1). In addition, it describes how these factors should be taken into
account whenever designing a maintenance scheme or planning a maintenance
operation.

The Corporate Strategy mentioned above applied up until July 2006. Hampshire
County Council has updated this strategy but retains a strong focus on sustainability,
focused on the Aalborg commitments (see Box 1.2).

Box A.1 Hampshire County Council Sustainability Objectives for

Highway Maintenance
Sustainable development implies the following principles which can be
adopted for highway maintenance operations:
• A reduction in the consumption of natural resources, including
energy. Non renewable resources should be substituted with
renewable resources.
• Waste should be reduced.
• Waste should be re-used or recycled.
• Biodiversity should be preserved or enhanced.
• Valuable natural and physical assets and amenities should be
preserved and protected.

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Table A.4 Hampshire County Council Corporate Objectives

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APPENDIX 3 Linking corporate objectives to highway
maintenance practice: Durham County Council

A.3.1 Corporate objectives

Durham County Council is another example of how sustainability aims and objectives
can be fed down the chain from a Corporate Strategy to Highways Maintenance
operations. All information displayed below is taken from the Durham County Council
website (www.durham.gov.uk), the Building-In-Sustainability website
(www.buildinginsustainability.co.uk) and WRAP Recycled Roads: Local Authority
Strategic Objectives Guidance note 1.

Durham County Council has five corporate aims, each supported by a number of
objectives.

1. Promoting Strong, Healthy and Safe Communities

• To enhance the capacity of communities and enable people to participate in
community life.
• To support and protect vulnerable adults, young people and children.
• To help to reduce crime and fear of crime.
• To help to improve the health of local people.
• To invest in our children and young people.

2. Building a Strong Economy

• To create and retain jobs in County Durham
• To create a diverse and robust employment structure with high quality jobs.
• To create the physical conditions necessary to enable flourishing economic
activity.
• To foster an enterprise culture.

3. Looking after the Environment

• To revitalise, conserve and protect the County's settlements, countryside and
historical features.
• To manage waste and resources sustainably, reduce pollution and adapt to
climate change.
• To provide an integrated, effective and safe transport system in support of
access for all.

4. Developing Lifelong Learning

• To improve provision for early learning for our children.
• To improve educational attainment for all children in our schools and inspire
them to enjoy learning throughout their lives.
• To provide high quality learning opportunities for all to gain enjoyment,
achievement, progression and enhanced employment prospects.
• To support the development of an adaptable and skilled workforce.
• To improve recreational, creative and cultural opportunities and promote a
sense of cultural identity.

5. Effective corporate leadership

• To enhance community leadership and improve the way we communicate,
listen and respond.

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 • To use our resources effectively.
• To continually improve the delivery of our services and implement solutions
that support local needs, priorities and aspirations.
• To develop our capacity to embrace change and improve the way our
services are provided.

Aim 3 above has been fed into a number of documents including Building in
Sustainability (2002). The Building in Sustainability (2002) document and
sustainability case studies can be viewed at www.buildinginsustainability.co.uk. The
website also contains checklists for all who are involved in design and construction
processes. This document states that in the development of new road maintenance
schemes the potential for in-situ recycling and the use of secondary/recycled
materials should be assessed.

Durham County Council has used the principles outlined in this document in all of
their road maintenance operations. Two examples are shown below. These illustrate
how choice of materials is one factor in the overall picture of sustainability, and how
all the factors have to be considered together to get the most effective results.

A.3.2 A689 Sedgefield to Wynyard Improvement

Throughout this £9million improvement scheme sustainability was taken into account
at all stages of design and construction. This was achieved by using the 13 Rules of
Thumb described in the document “Building in Sustainability”.

1. Think About Re-Using Buildings and Land

The alignment of the dual carriageway is such that the previous A689 corridor has
been incorporated into the new route wherever possible to minimise land take from
the surrounding green fields, thereby retaining maximum use of farmland.

2. Design for Minimum Waste

The design of the vertical alignment of the proposed road was such that all of the
material from cuttings was used as suitable fill, thereby eliminating the need for
material to be taken off site to landfill sites. Construction of the road embankments
was redesigned to make full use of poorer quality fill that would otherwise have had
to be disposed of off - site.

3. Aim for Lean Construction

In areas where it was necessary to remove the existing carriageway to achieve the
proposed vertical alignment, the surfacing has been planed out and the resultant
material stored on site for re-use in footpath construction.

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All stone for road construction came from local quarries and the labour force was
drawn mainly from the local area. As fewer heavy vehicles would use the outside
lane of the dual carriageway, a thinner road pavement was specified compared to the
inside lane. Piped surface-water systems were replaced by ditches wherever this
was feasible.

4. Minimise Energy in Construction and Use

By using local quarries, the transport distances have been minimised, thereby
reducing the amount of fuel needed to deliver materials to site, with a resultant
saving in consumption of natural resources.

Site activities and the policy of the main contractor Balfour Beatty ensured that all
motorised plant was switched off during periods of non-use, again saving on fuel
consumption.

Two options were available for the edge of carriageway detail - either kerbed with
gullies or a free edge with a 0.5 metre wide hard strip. Both options would have cost
approximately the same to construct but the free edge would take considerably less
time to construct and so was adopted as the preferred alternative.

5. Do Not Pollute
During the construction phase, all refuelling was carried out by designated trained
operatives using double-skinned, lockable bowsers to prevent spillages.

Watercourse protection measures were put in place to monitor run-off from stockpiles
and a silt filtration system was used in over-pumping works on an existing stream.

A petrol and oil interceptor was used where one of the surface water drainage
systems outfalled into a vulnerable watercourse. The Environment Agency was fully
consulted on the potential for effect of the scheme on the nearby aquifer and water
extraction point at Waterloo Plantation.

6. Conserve and Enhance Bio-diversity

Prior to any works commencing, all existing hedgerows that lay on the line of the
proposed carriageway were carefully dug up and transplanted along the site
boundaries to ensure as far as possible that the existing habitat was maintained. An
advance contract was undertaken to ensure that this element of the work was
undertaken outside of the bird-nesting season.

A survey was carried out to determine which trees could be retained and how best to
integrate the proposed planting scheme with the existing landscape.

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7. Conserve Water Resources
Within the site compound establishment, all WCs were fitted with low volume flush
units and all self-flush urinals had flow controls to minimise water wastage.
Throughout the construction period, all existing road gulleys were lined with a filter
medium to prevent silt from the works running off into the existing outfall system.

To reduce the effect of the surface water discharge from the scheme on the receiving
watercourses, storage structures were constructed to attenuate the flow in line with
the requirements of the Environment Agency. The outfall from these structures will be
monitored with a view to reducing the discharge even further.

8. Respect People and Their Local Environment

Throughout the works, the need for traffic management was been carefully planned
to reduce as far as possible delays and effect on both the travelling public and
business patrons using this part of the network.

Regular letter drops were carried out to inform local residents of changes to the traffic
management arrangements as well as providing information to local radio stations.
Part of the County Council’s web site was used to provide information on progress as
the construction phase was underway.

Close liaison between farmers, designers and construction staff was maintained
throughout the planning, design and construction phases to ensure that
inconvenience was kept to a minimum.

The Local Transport Plan Partnership Forum (consisting of some 25-30 organisations
with transport/travel interests) were also consulted during the design period to ensure
that the views of their members were taken into consideration and included in the
scheme where possible.

9. Think about the Whole Place

Previously the A689 passed through a rural agricultural area, with farmers on both
sides of the road carrying out both livestock and/or arable farming, both of which
called for the use of rigid and articulated haulage vehicles to move livestock or
feedstuffs. The design of the new dual carriageway incorporated a central reserve
width of up to 14metres to accommodate long vehicles turning across the
carriageway, together with acceleration and deceleration lanes for access/egress at
all crossing points.

Facilities for pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists have been provided beyond the
extent of the dualling scheme to improve links to Sedgefield and the new County
Durham Gateway Bridge that carries Route 1 of the National Cycleway Network
across the A689.

10. Give People Transport Choices

As well as providing an upgraded east-west route across the County, one of the
objectives of providing the new scheme has been to reduce the potential for
accidents along its length and improve the previous accident record.

A path has been provided throughout the length of the scheme to encourage walking,
cycling and equestrian use. The extended link to the Gateway Bridge will promote
use of and access to a much wider network of cycleway and walkway routes. The
deceleration tapers provided to the farm accesses off the A689 have been designed
to allow buses to use them as informal bus stops.

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11. Minerals
Throughout the construction phase, all surplus hard materials were recycled for use
either on site or on adjacent works, reducing the requirement for new materials.

The environmental management system in place on site calls for strict control of
wastage, again reducing the amount of imported raw materials.

12. The Countryside

The land take for the scheme is such that it minimises the amount of greenfield land
needed to build the road thereby minimising the impact on local agriculture.
The upgrading of this key part of the highway network will encourage traffic to utilise
this as an east-west route and the avoidance of potentially attractive alternative
routes that may pass through surrounding small villages and settlements.

13. Sustainable Regeneration

The upgrading of the existing road could encourage industry to utilise the facilities of
local industrial estates, hopefully to relocate to them.

Local people will be encouraged to remain in the area if employment prospects are
enhanced as a result of attraction of industry seeking transport of goods by way of
efficient access and minimum journey times to the motorway and trunk road networks.

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A.3.3 A167 Durham City Park and Ride

Durham City Park and Ride has improved access and reduced congestion in the
historic World Heritage Site of Durham City.

The scheme involved the construction of a 400 space car park at Belmont on the
outskirts of the City where new buildings provide the additional facilities to
accommodate the car park operators, a CCTV control room, ticket machine and
public toilets. Car parks were also constructed at two other sites on the outskirts of
the City providing 295 spaces at Howlands Farm and 300 spaces at Sniperley each
with amenity buildings housing ticket machines and public toilets.

In construction emphasis has been on the practical use of materials rather than high
specification to deliver a durable, functional product. Environmental consideration
was given a high priority with maximum use of on-site materials and recycling.

The sites all incorporate a sustainable surface water drainage system. All surplus
construction materials were recycled and used as suitable fill or formed into
landscaping to avoid the need for disposal of materials to landfill sites. Road planings
were re-used on public footpaths in the area. Lightweight kerbs made from recycled
household plastic were used where possible.

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Abstract
Over the past ten years there has been an increasing appreciation of the importance
of sustainability in government policy. This has required Local Authorities to review
their operations and look for ways to make them more sustainable. The maintenance
and construction of highways is an area that presents many opportunities for
increased sustainability, by the use of materials and methods that minimise the
impact of these activities on the environment. This document provides a detailed
description of how to make sustainable choices in the selection of materials and
methods for Local Authority highway works, including maintenance and new
construction. It is designed to support “Sustainable Highways”, the summary
guidance that constitutes a daughter document to “Well-maintained Highways”, the
Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management. This reference document
offers detailed practical guidance for Local Authority highway engineers, their
contractors, designers and suppliers on how to choose materials and methods of
work for highways taking into account sustainability and environmental factors.

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