Having a document endorsed by the Department of Transport aims to give councils the confidence they need to specify crumb rubber asphalt in low-traffic roads.
A NEW ERA
FOR CRUMB
AN AUSTRALIAN-FIRST SPECIFICATION IS SET TO INFORM THE USE OF CRUMB RUBBER IN ASPHALT APPLICATIONS ON LOW-TRAFFIC ROADS.
F
or the past six months, Liam O’Keefe, Senior Strategy Manager at Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA), has been travelling from state to state on an education mission. Going beyond platitudes about the circular economy, Mr. O’Keefe has been focused on supporting the product pull-through of tyre-derived product in roads. It’s a simple strategy – change the specifications, demonstrate benefit, create demand and subsequently enable supply. From last year’s Australian Asphalt Pavement Association (AAPA) followed by the Institute of Public Works Engineering 28
ROADS APRIL 2020
Australasia (IPWEA) Conference, Mr. O’Keefe has been a busy man. He’s since presented at the Major Roads Project Victoria Forum, the Australian Local Government Association Roads Congress in SA, the Local Government Association of Queensland Waste Forum and an AAPA Breakfast in Perth. Around three months ago, when trawling through his notes at the Australian Local Government Association conference for yet another presentation, the dot points evoked a simple yet impactful message. “The reality is that the best proponents of councils to build roads with tyre-derived
product are councils who have built roads,” he recalls. “The message has much more resonance when it comes from fellow practitioners than people like myself.” While crumb in spray sealing is well known and used across Australia, notably in Victoria, it’s tyre-derived product asphalt applications that are once again back on the agenda. “When Russell King from the City of Mitcham gets up and says ‘I’ve done it, I’ve built it!’, it just cuts through. So what we want to do is create an army of council proponents, advocates or representatives
