Plastic-waste in road construction i.e., Plastic roads. The present newly construction method highlights the developments in using plastics waste to make plastic roads.The use and abuse of plastics vis-a-vis environmental protection can go on, without yielding results until practical steps are initiated at the grassroots level by everyone who is in a position to do something about it. The plastic wastes could be used in road construction and the field tests withstood the stress and proved that plastic wastes used after proper processing as an additive would enhance the life of the roads and also solve environmental problems. Plastic is everywhere in today’?s lifestyle. It is used for packaging, protecting, serving, and even disposing of all kinds of consumer goods. With the industrial revolution, mass production of goods started and plastic seemed to be a cheaper and effective raw material. Today, every vital sector of the economy starting from agriculture to packaging, automobile, building construction, communication or infotech has been virtually revolutionised by the applications of plastics. Use of this non-biodegradable (according to recent studies, plastics can stay unchanged for as long as 4500 years on earth) product is growing rapidly and the problem is what to do with plastic-waste. Studies have linked the improper disposal of plastic to problems as distant as breast cancer, reproductive problems in humans and animals, genital abnormalities and even a decline in human sperm count and quality. If a ban is put on the use of plastics on emotional grounds, the real cost would be much higher, the inconvenience much more, the chances of damage or contamination much greater. The risks to the family health and safety would increase and, above all the environmental burden would be manifold. Hence the question is not ‘?plastics vs no plastics’? but it is more concerned with the judicious use and re-use of plastic-waste.
Not New.!
Plastic use in road construction is not new. It is already in use as PVC or HDPE pipe mat crossings built by cabling together PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or HDPE (high-density poly-ethylene) pipes to form plastic mats. The plastic roads include transition mats to ease the passage of tyres up to and down from the crossing.Both options help protect wetland haul roads from rutting by distributing the load across the surface. But the use of plastic-waste has been a concern for scientists and engineers for a quite long time. Recent studies in this direction have shown some hope in terms of using.
A Bangalore-based firm and a team of engineers have developed a way of using plastic waste for road construction. An initial study was conducted in 1997 by the team to test for strength and durability. Plastic roads mainly use plastic carry-bags, disposable cups thickness up to 60micron (PE, PP and PS), Hard foams (PS) and any thickness (PET) bottles, Soft Foams (PE and PP) any thickness. Laminated Plastics thickness up to 60 micron (Aluminum coated also) packing materials used for biscuits, chocolates, etc., That are collected from garbage dumps as an important ingredient of the construction material. When mixed with hot bitumen, plastics melt to form an oily coat over the aggregate and the mixture is laid on the road surface like a normal tar road.
Basic Process
Comparison
The durability of the roads laid out with shredded plastic waste is much more compared with roads with asphalt with the ordinary mix. Roads laid with plastic waste mix are found to be better than the conventional ones. The binding property of plastic makes the road last longer besides giving added strength to withstand more loads. While a normal 'highway quality' road lasts four to five years it is claimed that plastic-bitumen roads can last up to 10 years. Rainwater will not seep through because of the plastic in the tar. So, this technology will result in lesser road repairs. And as each km of road with an average width requires over two tonnes of polyblend, using plastic will help reduce non-biodegradable waste.
Expensive?
Plastics will increase the melting point of the bitumen. The use of the innovative technology not only strengthened the road construction but also increased the road life as well as will help to improve the environment and also creating a source of income. The plastic roads include transition mats to ease the passage of tyres up to and down from the crossing. Both option of making roads was to protect wetland haul roads from cracks by distributing the load across the surface.
A stretch of 800 metre bus route of Valluvar Kottam High Road from Unit Office 21 Junction to Dr.MGR Salai junction would have 13,700 square metre of plastic road in chennai. A 1,250-metre stretch of Nelson Manickam Road would have 22,500 square metre of plastic road. The civic body would complete re-laying of 121 plastic roads on 80-km-long bus routes at a cost of Rs.51.7 crore. Shredded plastic waste would form at least 8 per cent of the weight of the binder used for re-laying. Initially, the civic body planned to use plastic for re-laying of the top layer of 40 mm in the roads. The 75 to 50 mm macadam layer beneath the top layer of 40 mm is also likely to have plastic content in areas where damage to road is high. The Corporation has put in place bins for collection of plastic waste in every ward office. The civic body is procuring plastic for road re- laying, as it is yet to get enough plastic waste from residents. Patch work on Anna Nagar West School Road, Perambur High Road, Greams Road and Taluk Office Road also ready for began. Work on 292 km of interior roads started at a cost of Rs.59.5 crore.
World's Longest and Sturdiest Recycled Bridge
Stretching out across the peaceful waters of the River Tweed in Peeblesshire, Scotland, the Dawyck Estate river crossing is an unlikely record breaker. Measuring 30 meters in length and made entirely out of waste plastic products, the newly completed structure is the world's longest and sturdiest recycled bridge. Utilizing a super-strength composite plastic material -- engineered by researchers at Rutgers University from items as common as plastic bottles and household plastic waste -- the bridge caters for pedestrians, cars and heavy goods vehicles. The river span is one of five such structures now in existence, although all others are smaller and based in the U.S., and can support weights of up to 44 tons. According to Vertech Composites, the British company behind the project, the bridge is a prototype that has the potential to meet future road and bridge requirements in an eco-friendly manner.
No comments:
Post a Comment