The Project
In 2021, Cardiff City Council released ‘The One Planet Cardiff Strategy’, setting out its plans to make Cardiff a carbon neutral city by 2030 as part of the UK’s overall net zero target.
As part of this strategy, the Council is continuously looking at ways to reduce the carbon footprint of its highways repairs and resurfacing. The A470 resurfacing scheme in Cardiff was a pioneering project, showcasing the potential for carbon neutral resurfacing through innovation and collaboration.
Main contractor Miles Macadam worked with Cardiff City Council and other local contractors, including the Jet Plant regional team in the South West, to maximise materials recycling and reduce the whole life carbon cost of the project.
The Approach
Other local contractors also worked together to use old and recycled materials, including scrap metals from across Wales, such as end of life cars. This metal was melted down to create durable and sustainable steel aggregate which was used to replace the quarried stone.
The majority of the planing was completed using 2.2m planers from the Jet Plant fleet, with three operators and a banksman to maintain quality and safety. A 350mm planer was also used for fine detailing and to speed up the operation.
Using performance trackers on 2.2m planers, Jet Plant’s South West team was able to report on every aspect of the project including water usage, fuel usage, uptime and downtime, to ensure Cardiff City Council’s targets for the project were met.
Jet Plant also put in place measures to minimise carbon footprint by using local sub-contractors for haulage, extra tippers and road sweepers – all working to Jet Plant’s standards with annual audits to monitor and maintain performance.
The Results
Working on one of the main roads into Cardiff, night works were essential to minimise disruption as much as possible.
In total, the A470 resurfacing produced 66 tCO2e emissions – made possible through close collaboration, performance innovation and reliable monitoring to enable accurate reporting in line with the Council’s carbon neutral strategy.
Miles Macadam has complete confidence in the results expected of Jet Plant, building on the trust developed over more than ten years working together across Jet Plant’s unrivalled UK network.