14th December 2009
THE WEST GATE FREEWAY ALLIANCE
& AURORA INSTALL LOW EMISSION CONCRETE FOOTPATH IN BRADY STREET.
In the last week of November the
West Gate Freeway Alliance and Aurora Construction Materials, under licence to
Zeobond Pty Ltd, installed an E-CreteTM footpath for the West Gate
Freeway upgrade in Melbourne. This
footpath is one of the first commercial installations of low emission,
geopolymer concrete in Australia, and the world, and will result in a 60%
savings in greenhouse emissions when compared to equivalent concrete footpaths.
Brady Street joins the Swan Street bridge and the Salmon Street bridge as
projects where Vic Roads is trialling the use of E-CreteTM in the
place of more conventional concrete.
Developed by Zeobond Pty Ltd, a
Melbourne based company, E-Crete is supplied into the Victorian market by Aurora Construction Materials, a Melbourne
based pre-mixed concrete company.
E-CreteTM is a unique,
world-leading low carbon concrete technology that completely replaces the need
for Ordinary Portland Cement in concrete.
Like traditional cement and concrete, E-CreteTM is made in
the same familiar strength grades as normal class concrete. Despite containing
100% fly ash and/or slag to replace OPC, E-CreteTM has the same
strength development and durability. E-CreteTM has been shown to
have better fire resistance and better performance in acidic environments.
Independent Life Cycle Assessment
by industry experts has shown that E-CreteTM binder reduces CO2
emissions by 80% compared to Ordinary Portland Cement. As the third largest human source of CO2
globally, the use of cement in concrete accounts for approximately 40-60% of
CO2 emissions in construction projects like high rise buildings, road projects
and housing.
Using E-CreteTM
achieves a secondary benefit of reducing the need for virgin materials by
70-80% compared with normal cement used in concrete. This double benefit
results in a reduction in the amount of material being dumped in landfill
therefore relieving pressure on limited natural resources.
Whilst in the early stages of
research and development in regard to its suitability for the various
applications currently serviced using conventionally made concrete, E-CreteTM is currently available as a
replacement for conventional concrete in footpaths, bus shelters and some
precast applications. It is envisaged that as the research and development projects
are completed, new applications will come on line over the next few years.
The use of E-CreteTM
as part of the West Gate Freeway Upgrade provides a first step in significantly
reducing emissions from Australia’s major infrastructure projects. Cement is
the single largest source of embodied greenhouse emissions in infrastructure
projects and by utilising E-CreteTM, the West Gate Freeway Alliance
has made a positive step to reducing greenhouse emissions from what is a major
Australian road project. Well done to the West Gate Freeway team on paving the
way for the future.