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

  • Building green with nanotechnology
    June 23, 2021
    The results are out: Iterchimica and Directa Plus’ GiPave combines recycled plastic and nanotechnology to improve pavement performance across the board
  • Advances in bitumen technology will boost surface wear life and quality
    September 19, 2012
    From chip fat to banana bags, the race is on to find new bitumen additives which will solve two problems with one solution: replace diminishing petrochemical-based products and make use from waste rather than landfilling it - Kristina Smith reports It is not just the desire to preserve our environment which is driving the industry’s search for products which don’t eat up raw materials. The hunger of emerging economies – particularly China – mean that resources can be hard to come by, so it makes sense for s
  • Black is green: the bitumen sector rises to the mobility challenge
    April 14, 2020
    Asphalt may be black most of the time, but the bitumen sector is green and getting greener, says Siobhan McKelvey, head of Eurobitume.
  • Austrian firm recycling materials with mobile machinery
    March 18, 2016
    An Austrian firm is recycling road materials using mobile machines supplied by Rockster. The R900 and RSS49 units are being used by Austrian specialist Neuberger to recycle materials from an array of construction and demolition sources. The products are then used in an array of applications including road base materials, earthworks and slope construction. The family-owned firm runs a large gravel pit in Ehrwald and uses its Rockster RSS49 scalping screen RSS49 for recycling construction waste and RAP. The f