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New paving at No. 5 Road and Granville Avenue uses 40 per cent recycled asphalt as part of Richmond’s initiative to help the environment.
Photo courtesy City of Richmond
Richmond road paving goes green
Published 11:05 PST, Thu November 5, 2020
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Richmond’s roads are going green by using partially recycled asphalt paving.
As part of its continued commitment to sustainability, greenhouse gas and waste reduction, and a local circular economy principle, the city has unveiled a recycled road.
An 800-metre stretch of paving has been laid over four lanes of road along the 7000 block of No. 5 Road that is made up of 40 per cent recycled, previously used asphalt paving. Part of Richmond’s high recycled asphalt pavement project, it is hoped this section of road (3.2 kilometres in total) will pave the way for more sustainable paving work in years to come.
“Road construction and maintenance is an important and necessary reality of municipal operations and it’s not an area that has seen great strides in environmental improvements,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who is also chair of the National Zero Waste Council. “Guided by our city’s zero waste commitments and our drive to be a change leader, Richmond is paving the way—literally—for a sustainable future in road construction.”
Until now, road construction has been limited to no more than 10 per cent recycled material as higher percentages have presented quality control challenges and resulted in sub-standard paving. The concept for this project was initiated by the National Zero Waste Council. Richmond, together with Lafarge Canada, saw a timely opportunity to move it forward as an important pilot project.
Working with the industry, city staff engaged local asphalt producers to find ways to improve buyer confidence in higher levels of recycled asphalt in road paving. Through this process, the city developed a draft accreditation system to identify best practices for producing high quality recycled asphalt products. Both the city and Lafarge will closely monitor the road section annually over time and, if outcomes are as positive as anticipated, more roads in the future will be repaved using recycled asphalt.
The expected result will be an increase in confidence from local asphalt producers and customers such as cities, business and homeowners, to produce or buy asphalt paving mix with higher levels of recycled materials. Outcomes of the ground-breaking stretch along No. 5 Road will be shared broadly and its expected success could see other cities follow Richmond’s lead. Several municipalities have already reached out to the city to find out more about the project.
“This project places Richmond in a leadership role by engaging local industry to reduce the use of natural resources and fossil fuels, reduce waste and apply a high level of recycled material on a busy public road,” Brodie said.
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