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13/11/03 - County pioneers glass waste for road repairs

Cumbria County Council is pioneering the use of waste glass for road repairs in the north west of England. A contract to rebuild a stretch of the A5087 on Rampside Road in Barrow is a pilot scheme in which recycled glass is mixed in with the stone aggregate normally used in the lower layers of the road.   

Councillor Kevan Wilkinson, Cumbria County Council Cabinet member with responsibility for transport and infrastructure, said:    

"This is line with the policy of the county council and the Government to encourage more sustainable forms of construction and the use of recycled materials. It is hoped that the use of such material will in future form a larger part in Cumbria County Council’s structural road maintenance programme.   

"The county council’s strategic partner for highway work, CAPITA, has worked closely with Bardon Aggregates to develop this new material for use on this scheme. It is the first time glass has been used for resurfacing within the North West of England." 

More than 1,000 tonnes of asphalt are being supplied by Bardon Aggregates from its Back Lane Quarry in Carnforth for the lower road base and binder courses of the carriageway reconstruction. This includes 20 per cent or about 300 tonnes of crushed glass as a replacement for the usual quarried aggregate. The glass, which has been screened and processed down to a 20mm-to-dust consistency, started life as mixed glass bottles collected from pubs and restaurants in the St Helen’s area. By blending the glass with primary aggregate dust and into the asphalt mix the material has been diverted away from landfill and returned to use. It also saves on the quarrying of aggregate.    

Work started on Monday November 10 to reconstruct 250 metres of the A5087 on Rampside Road between the Roose Roundabout and South Row and install a pedestrian crossing. The scheme is programmed to last three weeks. Temporary traffic signals are being used to control traffic during the resurfacing work and there are inevitable delays.   

The county council apologises for added disruption due to the failure of temporary traffic lights at the site on Monday. This caused delays in the Rampside area and led to diversions down residential streets. The incident is being investigated and steps are being taken to ensure similar occurrences do not happen again.