If you’re planning a new build on your commercial or residential area, then your design more than likely includes some type of paving area. This can be done in the form of driveways, sidewalks, parking areas, and even construction platforms.
In addition to doing the soil testing Melbourne regulations require, your geotechnical engineering team will also look for the most sustainable ways to build.
Generally, this includes using a wide range of recycled materials. It can also involve rehabilitating existing or damaged paving areas.
Rehabilitation Vs New Design
Before we jump into the best materials to use for your paving build, it’s essential to know the difference between restoring an existing paving area and creating a whole new design.
Pavement rehabilitation, sometimes referred to as pavement stabilisation, refers to the concept of using new and often recycled materials to an old, damaged paving area to restore it to a safe and functional space. This process begins with comprehensive testing to establish how damaged or weakened the paving has become.
The concept of pavement design involves soil testing, planning, as well as the research that goes into creating a whole new pavement from scratch. This process can be more complex than a simple rehabilitation and can involve the following actions:
- Computer modelling to do the design planning
- Perform soil testing on the surrounding ground area
- Analyse the underground conditions to establish the load-bearing capacity
- Review the materials used to create existing roads in the area
Recycling is a Top Priority
The global focus has shifted toward using recycled materials wherever possible, and this includes the building and construction industries. Using recycled materials in general, new and restored paving eliminates the need for mining new raw materials. It also minimises the amount of older materials that will be dug up and sent to local landfills.
In addition to this, excess, old, and damaged rubble materials are collected from construction sites and recycled for use in rehabilitated and new pavements. We’ve compiled a list of the more common materials used in the recycling process in the Australian building industry.
1. Reclaimed (Regained) Asphalt Pavement
This is one of the most commonly recycled materials and comes from broken, worn, oxidised asphalt that gets removed from old paving. The materials are screened and then crushed to make a new batch of asphalt. Reclaimed asphalt can also be used in other materials around the building site.
2. Crushed Brick
Reclaiming bricks is quite easy since they can easily be found in demolition zones and construction sites. Bricks are collected, cleaned, broken into smaller pieces, screened, and then used.
Crushed brick is used with other materials, such as crushed rock, to create a strong, durable, and sustainable material that can be used in new and restorative pavements. Many engineers will also recommend using crushed brick to improve support in areas where a weak subgrade has been identified.
3. Steel
Scrap or discarded steel is another effective construction material that can be used in the recycling process. The steel is melted down and then used in casting, which can be rolled into products such as mesh, which is commonly used in road barriers. The melted steel can also be used in energy-absorbing bollards.
4. Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs)
Waste products such as amorphous silica, fly ash, and granulated furnace slag are mixed and treated. This mixture, commonly called SCM, is often used to replace significant quantities of cement in various concrete mixes. It can also be used as a binder in the overall pavement stabilisation process.
5. Crushed Glass
Glass is an effective and easily recyclable material that can be used in many different ways. Typically sourced from commercial and home recycling bins, glass is cleaned and crushed, not pieces refeed to as “glass fines”.
These are then used to replace sand in different asphalt mixes used in paving. The glass fines can also be used to replace sand in rock mixes used to make various reflective markings on streets and roads.
6. Plastic
Plastic can easily be found in municipal, industrial, and commercial recycling bins or waste. The plastic is then sorted, shredded, and granulated. Cleaning and decontaminating are also part of the reclaiming process, and once the plastic has been reformed, the new material is often used as an aggregate in concrete. Reformed plastic can also be used in the construction process of bollards, used as traffic management dividers.
7. Crumb Rubbe (CR)
Crumb rubber is made using old or no longer used tyres. Components in the tyres, such as steel and cord, are removed, and the remaining tyre is used in any of the following construction items:
- Spray sealing
- Asphalt mixes
- Permeable pavement
- Retaining walls
- Traffic devices such as speed humps, bollards and wheel stops
Final Thoughts
Using recycled building materials is an effective way to reduce the overall costs of your building project. Not only will you save money on buying new materials, but you will be contributing to reducing the overall waste that goes to your local landfill. It’s an all-around win!
