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www.dailymail.co.uk_sciencetech 2015 03025.txt.txt

#Could roads made from PLASTIC spell the end of potholes? Recycled bottles could finally end the scourge of every motorist By Jack Millner For Mailonline Published: 16:14 GMT, 14 july 2015 Updated: 17:43 GMT, 14 july 2015 Crumbling and neglected roads can lead to dangerous potholes and agonising delays as a result of costly road works. But a new design could mean when a section of road gets damaged, it can easily be removed and replaced, after a Dutch company announced their plans to build prefab plastic roads that could slot together like Lego bricks. The project, dubbed Plasticroad, would see Rotterdam become the first city in the world to lay down plastic road tiles made in a factory in advance. The idea has been put forward as a greener alternative to asphalt as each module will be made from recycled plastic bottles. But a company director has expressed concerns that the design could be slippery when wet. The company behind the idea, construction firm Volkerwessels, said that the surface would require less maintenance than the traditional road building material asphalt and could withstand more extreme temperatures-between-40°C(-40°F) and 80°C (176°F). Volkerwessels also said that the roads would be quicker to build, taking weeks instead of months. The plan could also be more environmentally friendly, as asphalt is responsible for 1. 6m tons of CO2 EMISSIONS a year globally, making up two per cent of all transport emissions, according to the firm.''Plastic offers all kinds of advantages compared to current road construction, both in laying the roads and maintenance,'Rolf Mars, the director of Volkerwessels'roads subdivision, KWS Infra, told The Guardian. The firm claim that their plastic road would be lighter, reducing the load on the ground, and hollow, providing easy access to cables and pipes to run under the surface. It is hoped that the lightweight design and streamlined construction process would reduce problems caused by road works. So far the project is still in a conceptual stage but the company say they will be ready to lay down the first plastic roads within three years. They have chosen the city of Rotterdam as it is enthusiastic about greener building practices according to Jaap Peters, from the city council's engineering bureau.''We're very positive towards the developments around Plasticroad, 'he said.''Rotterdam is a city that is open to experiments and innovative adaptations in practice. We have a"street lab"available where innovations like this can be tested. Mars said the idea had enormous potential for future developments. Ideas suggested include heated roads or ultra-quiet surfaces.''It's still an idea on paper at the moment; the next stage is to build it and test it in a laboratory to make sure it's safe in wet and slippery conditions and so on, 'he said.''We're looking for partners who want to collaborate on a pilot as well as manufacturers in the plastics industry, we're thinking of the recycling sector, universities and other knowledge institutions.'

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