Contact Us Quick Quote

Using Recycled Planings on the A30 in Cornwall

Key Facts

Region South
Project Recycled planings on the A30
Client Hanson
Duration Seven weeks

The Project

Jet Plant’s planing services ensured 4,000 tonnes of recycled planings could be reused on the A30 to keep Cornwall connected.

The A30 is one of the South East’s busiest major roads, providing a route from Exeter to Penzance, through the county of Cornwall. On a typical day it carries around 26,500 vehicles, although that number rises significantly in the summer and on Bank Holidays, when tourist numbers increase.

With such volumes of traffic, a southbound stretch of the A30 between Alphington and Cutteridge, Exeter was in need of maintenance. Highways contractor Hanson sought a planing services partner that could plane out both the wearing and the binder course, whilst enabling the use of recycled planings in the mix to ensure a cost-efficient, sustainable project. It turned to Jet Plant, combining regional expertise with a nationwide network of specialists.

The Approach

Building on a strong existing relationship, Hanson and Jet Plant’s team in the South West worked together to plan the project with minimum disruption and maximum efficiency.

In total, Jet Plant planed up to 100mm depth of surface over the stretch of the southbound carriageway closure. The aim of the project was to create the best quality planings that could be placed straight back into the mix and recycled on the road with minimal screening needed – but this would only be possible if the planings were a certain size and shape.

Jet Plant undertook significant testing to optimise the milling parameters of their 2.2m planer. The forward planer speed and the speed at which the milling drum rotates, were continually adjusted by the operator in order to produce the best planings for recycling. This testing was completed over a number of nights in collaboration with Hanson on another project on the M4 motorway, before the project team settled on certain parameters to produce the size and shape of materials needed for recycling.

The Results

Using 2m planers working to the parameters established in testing, Jet Plant completed planing on the A30 in just six weeks – around 25% quicker than originally planned. In total, 4,000 tonnes of planings were taken to a local plant to be recycled and reused back in the mix to resurface the road.

One planer was used during night works when the road remained open to traffic, and two planers during a 24-hour full closure – each with three operators and one banksman. Jet Plant’s fleet was used to initially strip 45mm of wearing material which was sent to Hanson’s quarry for recycling. A second planer would then go deeper to remove the binder surface, which is more coarse and so not suitable for recycling – always working in line with haulage availability to ensure no material was wasted.

This careful method of planing to gather the correct size and shape of material needed for recycling involves slowing the planer down, which was not possible during night closures because it would not allow enough time for resurfacing in time to get the road open again for commuters.

Due the amount of traffic the road sees in the summer months, it was also important that work was completed outside of peak times. Recognising local restrictions, Jet Plant’s South West team worked from October to November, outside of embargos which are in place across the region to minimise disruption for travellers.