Australia’s first recycled kerbs are being trialled at the Pakenham Level Crossing Removal project.
Victoria’s Big Build has partnered with the University of Melbourne Faculty of Engineering and Porous Lane, a company that recycles tyres, and received a Sustainability Victoria grant to develop and trial the concrete kerb replacement.
The kerb forms a barrier between the road pavement and the nature strip, which aims to direct rain into stormwater drains and protect the edge of the road from erosion.
One section of the kerb in the new East Pakenham Station car park has been made from a mixture of granulated waste tyres and crushed rock, which is bound together using an epoxy binder – with zero cement required.
The kerb will be monitored over coming years to review its quality and strength, the ability of the kerb to filter debris out of rainwater before it reaches the drain, adequate rainwater drainage from the car park, and whether plants, trees and shrubs planted in the area are thriving.
If this trial in the East Pakenham Station car park is successful, it could be rolled out on future projects, potentially paving the way for concrete substitution on more major projects, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and moving Victoria closer to a net zero future.
The level crossings at Main Street, McGregor Road and Racecourse Road in Pakenham are three of 22 crossings being removed on the Pakenham Line.
The project is supported by the Circular Economy Markets Fund, delivered by Sustainability Victoria under the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy, Recycling Victoria: a new economy.
For more information, visit: www.bigbuild.vic.gov.au
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