ElLife
LIFE+ 09/ENV/EE/227
Maanteeamet Eesti Energia Nordecon Ramboll Skepast&Puhkim

The use of cost effective OSA-additives provides the civil-engineering projects low-cost alternatives: instead of the conventional use of high amounts of natural aggregates the projects can be implemented by combining stabilisation techniques and the use of existing soil materials of the site to be constructed. This may reduce the use of roughly 500 million tonnes of natural aggregates from non-renewable sources involving heavy long-distance transports in Europe. Also this is environmentally beneficial due to reduced atmospheric emissions and improved protection of landscape, natural gravel and rock resources, and groundwater sources. The cost effective methods shall also generate economical benefits for the European societies: Based on rough estimates costs of construction may be reduced by close to 4 000 Million € in Europe each year. The expected results are not easily quantified due to the lack of relevant statistic at the moment, but the project is going to obtain more exact data about European indicators for the long-term forecasts.

This project has been funded with a contribution from the LIFE financial instrument of the European Community