The RSTA Carbon Emissions for Road Surface and other Maintenance Treatments Report and Guidance was launched at the annual conference on the 13th April at Celtic Manor in Wales. The guidance, developed for local highway authority Asset Managers and other decision makers, will enable them to plan their future maintenance programmes and demonstrate the carbon savings they have made and are making by implementing whole life carbon and cost lifecycle asset management.
This is the first time all the major treatments including conventional asphalts have been calculated and compared in accordance with the International Standards. It includes the A1 – A3, A4, A5 and total C02e emissions for each treatment, with sample comparisons for schemes using different materials and methods.
The newly developed guidance is what local highway authorities have been waiting for, an endorsed one stop carbon guidance for direct comparisons across materials and methods, and will be a game changer for the way forward in reducing carbon (and costs) during the operational life of a road or footway. It paves the way for managing other highway assets in a similar efficient way when their carbon lifecycle emissions are also calculated.