Work to reinforce the road surface of the A92G motorway in Granada with sustainable asphalt has begun

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Work to reinforce the road surface of the A92G motorway in Granada with sustainable asphalt has begun

March 27, 2023

Sorigué is responsible for this project, which reduces the carbon footprint by 25% and is scheduled for completion in June 2023.

The Andalusian Regional Minister of Public Works, Marifrán Carazo; the Government Delegate Antonio Granados; the Delegate of Public Works in Granada, Antonio Ayllón; and the Director-General of Infrastructure, Enrique Catalina, attended the beginning of the asphalting of the A92G motorway which connects the cities of Santa Fe and Granada and which took place this March.  
 
The authorities were able to learn first-hand about the properties of MASAI, the bituminous mix used in this project, which is known as “sustainable asphalt” due to its formulation with a percentage of recycled material and a manufacturing process that reduces CO₂ emissions. 
 
Through its company Acsa, Sorigué is using this material to contribute to reducing the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and give new value to reused components such as tyres and milled old road surfaces.  
 
For this particular project, which runs from kilometre point 0+000 to 8+730, it is estimated that 15,000 tyres and 4,000 tonnes of aggregates that were destined for landfill will be reused, and the carbon footprint will be reduced by 25%.  
 
Recycled pavement 
 
The Sustainable, Automated and Intelligent Asphalt Materials (MASAI) were developed at the Laboratory of Construction Engineering (LabIC) of the University of Granada by the engineers Mayca Rubio, Laboratory Director and Professor at the university, and Fernando Moreno, Deputy Director of LabIC and Full Professor. 

MASAI’s high mechanical performance and self-repairing capabilities set a new benchmark in sustainability thanks to its composition and manufacturing process.  

Up to 20% of the mix content consists of recycled material from the milling of old road surfaces (RAP) and an additional 0.5% comes from rubber powder extracted from recycled tyres (NFU).  
 
MASAI significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions with its manufacturing temperature of just 145°C, far below that of conventional surfaces. Sorigué is using several MASAI bituminous mixes in the specific case of the A92G road surface reinforcement: a total of 11,000 tonnes of BBTM, 5,500 tonnes of AC16SURF and 4,000 tonnes of AC22BIN.  
 
The reinforcement of the A92G road surface, which will be completed in June 2023, is being carried out in addition to the asphalt plan for the city of Granada, also developed by Sorigué. This is the first time that recycled bituminous wearing courses have been used on urban roads, as until now they had only been applied on roads such as the A-92 and the A-4026 in the Andalusian network.  
 
Sorigué is therefore confirming its commitment to decarbonisation in all its processes and its support for R&D&I projects on the production of new materials and processes linked to sustainable development.