Abu Dhabi municipality takes road to a greener environment

Abu Dhabi's green road manual will result in material being reused to lay roads and a reduction in the use of water and energy.

The green road manual intends to make roads environmentally friendly. Ravindranath K / The National

ABU DHABI // A sustainable "Green Road" manual for the emirate will be turned out by the municipality by end of 2013, a project that will reduce water and energy consumption, and decrease carbon dioxide emissions.
The green road manual is about the design and construction of roads in a green and sustainable manner. The efforts are intended to make roads environmentally friendly.
"The green road standards will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 per cent and lower the construction cost significantly," said Dr Ahmed Hassan Ali, project design consultant at the municipality.
The municipality has been working on the sustainable project, which will gradually make the emirate's roads sustainable.
"These green roads are expected to emit less carbon dioxide, reduce water and energy consumption, and the material utilised in its construction could be recycled," he said.
The municipality has been studying green road manuals from a variety of countries, including the UK, the US and Australia.
The goal of the programme is to implement the sustainability. By setting environmental standards, the municipality hopes to enhance the serviceability of assets and improve the performance of projects in different disciplines such as irrigation, gardens, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructures.
The sector undertakes pilot projects for sustainable infrastructure by adopting best-in-class practices.
One example is reusing asphalt materials in road maintenance, an effort that was successfully implemented in Abu Dhabi, and has saved about 80 per cent of materials used in roads rebuilding, said Abdullah Al Shamsi, acting executive director of municipal infrastructure and assets at the municipality.
Dr Ali said the municipality was conducting several studies on recycling and was in the process of developing more programmes.
Benefits the municipality has so far achieved include reducing the cost of pavement construction by 25 per cent. That project was implemented in 2011 in Shahama, on the outskirts of the capital.
The use of crushed and recycled concrete aggregate, which comes from demolished buildings, has already been reused as a pavement component material, Dr Ali said.
"Now we have started using all recycled materials in the construction of pavements. We started sustainable construction of pavements two years ago and now we are gaining the benefits, and we will continue to do so."
According to the municipality, the green roads classification system is based on sustainability criteria throughout the entire project's life span, starting from the planning, designing and construction phases, and finishing up with the maintenance and operation phases.
These criteria are built and bench-marked against internationally certified standards adopted in the US and in Europe, and will be customised to suit the local conditions of Abu Dhabi city in order to ensure construction of more efficient roads using minimal resources.
Dr Ali said that the green road project will enhance the economic feasibility of infrastructure projects, and conserve natural resources.

[e-mail]