For the first time, both the underlay and the top deck of reused materials are being tested on a large scale — on Europavei 39.

Large piles of Silica Green Stone (SIGs) lie outside the smelter of Eramet AS in Kvinesdal. The by-product of the global steel industry here is a whopping 220,000 tonnes each year. In the past, SIGS has been used for landfills, but now 1,500 tons have also been given new life a short distance from the factory. Instead of smashing new mountain into parts of the roadbody on new E39, testing SIGs on a large scale as a basis.

“We want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from road construction. When we adopt SIGs, we use it instead of stone. It is sustainable,” says Anne Stine Johnson, Head of Technology and Science in Nye Veier and Chairman of the Board of VIA.

The reinforcement layer is now being tested on high-traffic highway, with a life expectancy of 50 to 100 years.

“SIGs can be crucial in road bodies, and then there can be other applications, including in the cement industry,” says Aida Bermudez, operations director at Eramet.

100% circular asphalt

On a 400-metre-long stretch of road near Lyngdal, on the same stretch of E39, the newly laid asphalt looks quite ordinary. But this asphalt is special. For the first time, the European Paveway tarmac has not been made of freshly blasted rock.

“Perhaps we are the first in the world to build a highway with circular asphalt,” says Anette Aanesland, CEO of Nye Veier.

The circular asphalt, which is free of stone and virgin oil products, is supplied by Velde Asphalt. They have developed and tested the product over time, and until now tried it out on a small scale on local roads in Rogaland.

“We want to prove that this is a full-fledged product, which has all the features that we want from in a new way. It performs everything we want from asphalt and all materials must meet all requirements,” says Petter Foss, environmental advisor at Velde Asphalt.

“This is asphalt with negative CO2 emissions. Nothing is better than contributing to more sustainable road construction through new technology,” says Anette Aanesland, CEO of Nye Veier.

The entire value chain works together

The pilots on the E39 are part of the Green Platform project Sustainable value chain and material use in road construction. With a high level of expertise and innovation capacity, and a large proportion of renewable power, the construction industry has unique prerequisites for delivering climate-smart solutions and materials.

---- In the project, we look at new ways and new products that we can use when building roads. It's good for our environment,” says Johnson in New Roads.

The 17 participants in the project are from across the value chain, and have joined forces to help Nye Veier achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in road construction by 50 percent by 2030.

It is important that the entire value chain is involved. Through these types of projects that receive public support, we succeed in doing so,” says Aanesland in Nye Veier.

The New Normal

The pilots of the project will be well documented by Sintef, and will be followed up for many years to come.

“What is important is that we take care of natural resources. Although we have good access to good stone material in Norway, it is still a non-renewable resource. The same is bitumen, which we use as a binder in asphalt,” says Marit Flatvad, researcher and advisor in road technology at Sintef and continues:

“In the asphalt of the future, we must take care that we do not use more resources than we have to, and asphalt is actually a 100 percent recyclable product. That's what we want up to now, and get to it being the new normal.

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Easier path from idea to market

With Nye Veier and the National Road Administration's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on nature, there will be competitive advantages for Norwegian actors who develop new climate-friendly technology for road construction. It also provides better conditions for success in scaling and exporting.

The two pilots on the road at Lyngdal in Agder are the first of a number of pilots to be tested with new materials. The project will develop and pilot at least ten new solutions and methods for reuse of waste products, mass withdrawal and use of by-products in road bodies, tunnels and road structures. A system should be established that makes the path from idea to market easier.

“What is important is to get from pilot to full scale. If we're going to do that, we need to get out of the lab. Now we simply use E39 as a laboratory,” says Aanesland in Nye Veier.

Waterfall in Velde Asphalt emphasizes that a commercial success for them requires that a regulatory framework facilitates it.

“We want to prove that we have a full-fledged product, and then the regulations must follow us and open the door to use it in ordinary projects. We have an ongoing dialogue with New Roads, and authorities and regulations that are in place. We have Sintef as a research environment and VIA as a facilitator for us to carry this out.