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PlasticRoad07-29-15 | News

PlasticRoad

Netherlands-based construction firm VolkerWessels asserts "PlasticRoad' would have construction and maintenance advantages, plus open the door to new roadway innovations: power generation, quiet and heated roads, modular construction and enclosed space for cables, pipes and stormwater.

VolkerWessels, a Netherlands-based construction firm, is in the "idea phase" to create plastic roads https://tinyurl.com/q5gol6v. The company asserts such roads would have three times the lifespan of asphalt roads, handle temperature ranges from -40???(R)???AE?F to 176???(R)???AE?F and be "virtually maintenance free "?(R)? [and] unaffected by corrosion and the weather."

The idea for plastic roads came about when the company examined road problems that cities face: flooding, maintenance, noise reduction, water permeability and creating flat roads. Plastic as an alternative to asphalt also came to mind with concerns of the future of oil production and the carbon footprint of asphalt. Global asphalt production is 1,600 million tons a year; an estimated eight billion kilograms of plastic is floating in our oceans, and over 55% of all plastic waste still being incinerated.

The city of Rotterdam reports it is considering serving as a pilot site for the project.

Last year, the innovative Dutch opened a 230-foot long bike lane embedded with solar cells protected by two layers of safety glass. In six months the road produced about 3,000 kilowatt-hours of energy, enough to power a single small home for a year.