A Brisa Concessionaire (BCR) and the Lisbon Superior Engineering Institute (ISEL) have created the Living Lab to investigate innovative materials for pavements that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase efficiency in the use of natural resources for the conservation of the highway network.
In total, six pilot tests have already been developed over a nearly 10-kilometer stretch on the A3, the highway that connects Porto to Valença, and on the A6, which connects Marateca to Caia.
Among the materials applied, recycled plastics and rubber from end-of-life tires stand out, through a new technology unprecedented in Europe. It is an innovative solution that involves the complete digestion of recycled rubber from end-of-life tires in bitumen, allowing for the alteration of its physical and chemical characteristics, increasing the durability and resilience of pavements, and further enhancing the use of recovered bituminous mixtures.
These tests allow for the evaluation of the use of recovered bituminous mixtures for pavements, in percentages of 20% and 30%, which will be used for the first time in wearing courses of national highways. Other tests focus on the use of graphene, which has the potential to increase the durability of pavements.
The solutions being tested aim to reduce the extraction of aggregates from quarries, as well as the consumption of bitumen derived from petroleum distillation, either through the use of recovered bituminous mixtures, or by using end-of-life tires or recycled plastics.
These tests seek to evaluate the possibilities of reducing the environmental impact on highway preservation, with a potential annual reduction of 600 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, equivalent to 23 thousand car trips between Lisbon and Porto, and a reduction of 19 thousand tons of waste, contributing to the valorization of these materials and the implementation of an increasingly circular economy.
The Living Lab is a project open to various partners and suppliers, already bringing together partner companies such as Cepsa, JRS Rettenmaier, Polyco, and Iterchimica, and suppliers such as Sirplaste, Gabriel Couto, Mota Engil, Alves Ribeiro, and Tecnovia. The goal of BCR and ISEL is to expand the number of solutions and partner companies participating in the initiative.
