Skip to main content

A first for the Netherlands with 100% RAP

Arizona Chemical’s bio-additive allows 100% recycled asphalt for entire road structure The city of Rotterdam has used an asphalt mix with 100% RAP in all three of its layers, a first for the Netherlands. The road in question is a bike lane, so it won’t be expecting too much of a pounding, but it’s an important step forward for the city’s politicians, asphalt supplier KWS and additive specialist Arizona Chemical. Arizona Chemical designed its SYLVAROAD RP1000 performance additive with the express aim o
March 9, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A new cycle lane in Rotterdam features recycled asphalt in its construction, benefiting from the additive technology developed by Arizona Chemical
RSSArizona Chemical’s bio-additive allows 100% recycled asphalt for entire road structure

The city of Rotterdam has used an asphalt mix with 100% RAP in all three of its layers, a first for the Netherlands. The road in question is a bike lane, so it won’t be expecting too much of a pounding, but it’s an important step forward for the city’s politicians, asphalt supplier KWS and additive specialist 7856 Arizona Chemical.

Arizona Chemical designed its SYLVAROAD RP1000 performance additive with the express aim of allowing a higher proportion of RAP to be used in mixes. Created with products from the paper industry, SYLVAROAD RP1000 is made from pine chemicals Crude Tall Oil and Crude Sulphate Turpentine.

The bicycle lane is in the Merwe-Vierhavens area of Stashavens Rotterdam in an area earmarked by the authorities in late 2014 for trialling innovations. Other technologies under test on Lap op Straat – or Lab Street - include luminous street furniture and talking rubbish bins.

In order to work with 100% RAP, asphalt plants require different heating technology, explains Arizona Chemical’s business unit director, roads and construction Bas Hennissen. “Normally you have a big flame in a drum to heat the bitumen, but if you use a flame with a lot of RAP, you ruin the bitumen in the RAP,” he says. “Instead, for high proportions of RAP, heat is applied indirectly from outside so that you can increase the amount of RAP without it deteriorating.”

The Netherlands already uses higher proportions of RAP than many parts of the world, and has employed mixes containing 100% RAP in the base layers of roads already. KWS regularly works with mixes containing 70% RAP and has used SYLVAROAD RP1000 for such projects, says Hennissen.

Since the RAP was sourced locally - from a road in another part of Rotterdam – the bicycle lane trial is a good news story for Rotterdam’s politicians who want to demonstrate sustainable development. City alderman Pex Langeberg said: “This is a strong example of the Circular Economy in action. Now old asphalt can be reused in a large number of roads in both the city and the port of Rotterdam.”RSS

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • From Bangalore to Dumfries, plastic waste technology is reinforcing our roads
    May 2, 2018
    At last some good news about plastic waste: road authorities around the world are starting to use it in their roads - Kristina Smith reports.
  • Self-healing roads, slippery roads and slimmer roads
    November 24, 2017
    This month’s bitumen technology pages bring you self-healing roads, slippery roads and slimmer roads and explains why one UK contractor has started manufacturing its own polymer modified bitumen - Kristina Smith reports. Professor Erik Schlangen, who heads up experimental micromechanics at the Delft University of Technology is receiving calls from all round the world these days. And it is hardly surprising because he and his team have invented a great new technology: asphalt that heals itself.
  • Bonjour bio-based binders
    April 5, 2023
    How can Shell speed the whole road construction sector on its way to decarbonisation? Professor John Read and Richard Taylor have a few ideas.
  • Durability is crucial while warm mix technology can help disaster recovery
    February 21, 2013
    Why durability is crucial for both emerging and developed economies, and how warm mix technology can help disaster recovery - Kristina Smith reports. When CORE Construction, a 100% owned Ghanaian company, started working on road construction projects five years ago, it was difficult to source the right bituminous mixes. “In the past, most construction firms had a number of challenges when it came to bituminous works, since the local capacity was not well-developed,” said CORE CEO Frank Lartey. CORE’s soluti