Disused railway lines could easily be re-opened as ‘rubber highways’, made from recycled tyres, at a fraction of the cost of conventional roads, according to the company behind a government-sponsored trial, now under way.
Holdfast, maker of level crossing platforms, claims that highways suitable for cars, trucks, buses and light trams could be built for less than £1.4M a mile – compared with new-build costs of £20M.
Around 100 delegates from highway authorities, bus and tram operators, and Network Rail are due to attend an open day on 1 June at the Northamptonshire site, a car distribution centre.
Last month, its operator Gefco, began running the first of 8,000 cars along the 300m test track in the £250,000 eight-week trial in Corby, which is sponsored by WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Programme.
The eight-inch-thick rubber panels were almost identical to Holdfast’s rail level crossing surfaces which could withstand far heavier loads for 20 years, explained managing director, Peter Coates Smith. A patented locking system has been developed to prevent gapping.
The trial had shown how rapidly the highway could be assembled, he stressed. Four men installed the 1.8m-long panels in five days. Holdfast would manufacture panels up to 5m long at its plant near Halifax for commercial applications. Each road would be 2.9m wide between kerbs.
Holdfast says its rubber highways are maintenance-free, quiet, unaffected by temperature extremes or subsidence, and can be rapidly dismantled for repairs to the track or track bed. Around 350,000 tyres would be recycled for every mile of highway.
Landfilling of whole and shredded tyres will be banned from July under EU legislation, increasing the need for new recycling solutions. ‘This is an interesting project which has the potential to use high tonnages of recycled rubber from UK post-consumer tyres,’ said Steve Waite WRAP’s tyres project manager. ‘We’re killing several birds with one stone, and it’s never been done in the world before,’ said Coates-Smith.
Branch lines reopened as toll roads to relieve congestion could quickly pay back the cost, even if rail tracks had first to be reinstated.
The system could also cut the cost of street-running trams and guided busways. ‘With so many light rail projects under threat, community lines struggling and axed lines lying disused, there is real need for new and affordable options,’ he added.
www.rubberhighways.com
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