Comparative Performance

Construction project: Application:

Pavements Roads, car parks, etc Capping Concrete and cement bound sub-bases Selected granular fill: starter layer Selected granular fill: fill to reinforced soil and anchored earth structures Unbound sub-base Class 6C Selected uniformly graded granular material Class 6F1 Selected granular material (fine grading) Class 6F2 Selected granular material (coarse grading) Class 6I Selected well graded granular material Cement Bound Material category 1 (CBM1) Type 1 Unbound sub-base mixture Type 4 Unbound sub-base mixture Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) Recycled asphalt Recycled aggregate Pulverized fuel ash East of England Use of recycled aggregates and in-situ stabilisation on the A120 Stansted to Braintree Bypass April 2003 to July 2004

Product:

Material:

Region: Title: Date:

Conditions of Contract: ICE Design and Build Location: Activity

The A120 improvement scheme is a 24km section of new road running parallel to the existing A120 between Stansted and Braintree in Essex. The new road links junction 8 of the M11 and the new road network within Stansted Airport to the existing dual carriageway Braintree Bypass. The client for the project was Essex County Council but as the upgraded road was due to be reclassified as a trunk road on completion of the project the work was funded by the Highways Agency (see Diagram 1 for the full supply chain). The local area surrounding the A120 had very little primary aggregate available to be used on the development. A borrow pit was established at Frogs Hall adjacent to the west end of the site and was operated by RMC Aggregates. The borrow pit was not exempt from the aggregates levy. A borrow pit is a temporary mineral working supplying material for use solely in a specific construction project. In the ideal situation they are soon backfilled with project construction inert materials unsuitable for the construction task, such as soft clay, that often have to be removed from the construction area. A120 Stansted to Braintree Bypass, Essex

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There was sufficient sand and gravel available from the borrow pit to construct the sub-base for one carriageway as cement bound material (CBM1), but there was not enough locally available sand and gravel to construct the second carriageway. Primary aggregate to construct the second carriageway would have had to travel a long distance to reach the site so alternative technologies to minimise the requirement for material transportation were investigated. After soil analysis and testing it was found that the second carriageway was able to be constructed using lime and cement to stabilise the existing boulder clay soils in-situ to create a stabilised sub-base (soil cement) equivalent to Type 1 sub-base. This avoided the use of large amounts of primary aggregate as unbound sub-base. A 50:50 mix of primary aggregate and recycled road planings was used as Type 1 unbound sub-base mixture for the slip road at the west end of the site. Recycled asphalt planings from the site were also used as Type 4 sub-base mixture for the central reservation area. At the Braintree end of the scheme recycled concrete aggregate was used as Class 6I for backfill to a reinforced earth retaining wall. Oversize stone from the Frogs Hall borrow pit was used as Class 6C starter layer in soft spots where it was necessary to excavate unsuitable materials, and recycled aggregate from the local market was used as Class 6F1 and 6F2 capping in places.

Clients
Highways Agency Essex County Council
Strategic Management

Clients Representative
Arup
Day to Day Management

Frogs Hall Borrow Pit

RMC Aggregates

Regulatory

Design and build contractor

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited

Planning Authority
Essex County Council

Environmental Regulator
Environment Agency

Designer
Atkins

Sub-Contractor Earthworks Contractor

J Jones Ltd
Stabilization sub-contractor

J. McArdle

Diagram 1: Supply chain

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Comparative Performance
Comparative performance
The performance of the soil cement was found to be equivalent to Type 1 unbound sub-base mixture. Testing was carried out and the soil cement passed over 95% of the testing. The soil cement was required to have a CBR of 50% at 7 days in a soaked test. This compares with the requirement of 30% for Type 1 unbound sub-base mixture. The surfacing contractors preferred laying the surface layers on soil cement rather than the traditional unbound sub base materials. The speed of the operation was also increased by using the soil cement technique because of haulage restraints on the import of primary aggregates. It took longer to import the primary aggregate onto the site than to carry out in-situ stabilisation to produce the soil cement. The recycled concrete aggregate used as the backfill material for the retaining wall was able to be used in wet weather conditions. The coarser grading of the recycled concrete aggregate meant that it was free-draining and hence could be worked in much wetter conditions. This enabled work to continue over a longer season than would have been possible with locally available sand and gravel, which was susceptible to moisture. All the recycled aggregates were tested at a high frequency to ensure they complied with the requirements of the Specification, and the pass rate was in excess of 95%. This compares favourably with primary materials.

Material detail
The quantities of aggregates used on site are shown in Table 1. Diagram 2 illustrates the use of the materials on site. Application SHW Classification Current Amount (tonnes) 100,000

Primary aggregate sand and gravel from borrow pit Stabilised sub base from site 1 including Stabilised sub base 120,000 borrow pit sand gravel Imported primary aggregate for unbound Type 1 120,000 sub-base Site-won recycled asphalt Type 1 20,000 Site-won recycled asphalt Type 4 20,000 Capping and starter Layers: Recycled Class 6F1, 6F2, & 6C 60,000 aggregates imported to site Backfill to structures, Recycled concrete Class 6I 20,000 aggregate derived from site Drainage, imported primary aggregate 30,000 Total 750,000 Table 1: Quantities of materials used on A120 Stansted to Braintree Bypass

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RMC Borrow Pit Sand and gravel + 6C

Recycled concrete aggregate from site-won material to produce Class 6I well graded granular fill

Imported to site via a dedicated newly constructed access route.

Retaining wall

Carriageway Using cement bound material Central reservation Carriageway using soil cement Braintree

Stansted

Structural concrete, containing 30% PFA of total cementitous component of material

Imported recycled aggregate as 6F1 & 6F2 capping materials used on site where required.

Road Planings arising on site and imported Type 1 material

Diagram 2: Schematic material flow diagram (plan view of site)

Soil cement
Prior to starting the works a large amount of on site testing was carried out to ensure the ground conditions were suitable for using the soil cement method. Trial pits were dug down to the level at which the sub-base would be laid to test for sulfides and sulfates. If sulfides/ sulfates were found on site it would not have been possible to use the soil stabilised cement method of construction. The presence of sulfides/sulfates could lead to expansive reactions in the soil cement, causing the road to crack and form ridges and render the road unfit for use. Testing for sulfur compounds was carried out in accordance with TRL 447 - Sulfur compounds in structural backfill. All of the testing required was taken into account when bidding for the work. It was felt that significant levels of testing were imperative to ensure that all work was done in full compliance with the specification. On site trials were carried out as part of the approval for the departure from the Specification for Highway works. The trials were carried out and results were assessed prior to continuing with the works. The material to be converted into soil cement was boulder clay. First 2% (by dry weight) of quicklime was spread and rotovated into the clay layer, it was then rolled and sealed and left for a minimum of 24 hours. At the rotovation stage MCV tests and pulverisation tests were carried out. Between 24 and 72 hours after the lime has been rolled and sealed the cement (approximately 6% by dry weight of original material) was rotovated in to produce the stiffened sub-base material. Any water required was added during the process. Again MCV and pulverisation tests were carried out at this stage to ensure the material was in the correct condition for the process to be successful. If the material is too wet prior to stabilisation it will not reach the required strength, and if it is too dry there will be voids

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and unreacted cement which will cause problems at a later date when the dry cement material comes into contact with water. The road was rolled and trimmed and the field density was checked using a nuclear density gauge against laboratory compaction testing to attain in excess of 95% of the maximum dry density. The material was cured with a bituminous tack coat and the surface was jointly inspected by McArdle, Balfour Beatty and the surfacing contractors prior to handing the road over for surfacing.

Recycled aggregates on site for retaining wall

At the Braintree end of the scheme there was a large reinforced earth retaining wall, for which 20,000t of Class 6I selected granular fill material was required. All of the 6I material used was recycled concrete aggregate derived on site from crushed concrete kerbs, crushed existing carriageway, cement bound material and crushed drains. The material was then sent off site to be crushed and screened at a local recycling centre. The use of the recycled concrete aggregate meant that the work was able to continue in wet weather and was found to perform as well as primary aggregate. Recycled aggregates from the local market, produced from building rubble, were used as Class 6F1 & 6F2 capping in various locations.

Recycled planings
Recycled asphalt planings from the old carriageways on the site were mixed with primary aggregate to a ratio of 50:50 to produce a Type 1 unbound sub-base mixture. 130,000t of primary aggregate were imported and 40,000t of recycled planings from the site were used to make the Type 1 sub-base. This produced 170,000t of sub-base which was used in the slip roads. Some of the planings were also used as Type 4 unbound sub-base mixture in the central reservation. The use of the recycled road planings meant that works could continue during the wet weather without any problems. This was very important for this job because of the wet winter that had occurred during the construction works.

Structural concrete

Balfour Beatty used 55,000m of structural concrete during the project, all of which contained processed pulverised fuel-ash (PFA) as 30% of the cementitous component of structural concrete in bridges as standard.

Specification
The specification for the project was the Specification for Highway Works (SHW), incorporating the May 2001 amendments. These permit the use of recycled aggregate and asphalt in a wide range of applications including general and selected granular fill and unbound granular sub-base. The recycled aggregates were produced under a quality control scheme in accordance with BR 392, Quality control: the production of recycled aggregates as required under the Specification for Highway Works. A departure from the Specification for Highway Works was obtained for the soil cement. The departure required a soaked CBR of 50% after 7 days .The swell after 28 days was also measured in accordance with BS 1924: Part 2. The SHW has a limit of 30% CBR for Type 1 material. The SHW covers the production of capping using a combination of lime and cement, but not sub-base, hence a departure from the specification was required. Amendments to the SHW in 2004 have resulted in imported recycled aggregates for capping now being classed as 6F4 & 6F5 rather than 6F1 & 6F2. The category of Type 4 sub-base has been removed, but 100% recycled asphalt

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planings can still be used as Type 2 unbound sub-base mixture. The soil cement and cement bound materials are now covered by Series 800 of the SHW.

Conclusion
The use of soil cement, cement bound material and recycled aggregates obtained from the site and the local market results in the saving of 16,000 lorry movements and 150,000 tonnes of primary aggregate. The construction of the A120 Stansted to Braintree Bypass was made easier by the fact that most of the materials were obtained from the site, reducing the need for trafficking the highly congested local roads, and resulted in significant savings in time and cost compared to importing primary aggregates, as well as resulting in environmental benefits by reducing carbon emissions and emissions of pollutants from vehicles. A large amount of testing was carried out to ensure conditions on site were suitable for using the soil stabilisation method. This technique should never be undertaken without sufficient testing to ensure there are no sulfides/ sulfates present otherwise post construction maintenance problems may emerge. This project was very successful and all of the recycled aggregates performed as well as the equivalent primary aggregates whilst providing economic and environmental gains over traditional primary materials.

Contact details
Client: Highways Agency

Contractor: Contact

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited John R Ferguson, Chief Materials Engineer 7 Mayday Road, Thorton Heath, Surrey, CR7 7XA. Tel: (020) 8684 6922 Fax: (020) 8710 5155 email: john.ferguson@bbcel.co.uk

Earthworks Contractor:

J. Jones Ltd

Stabilisation Sub Contractor: J McArdle Contracts Ltd Contact: Brian Herron, Stabilising Director McArdle House Great Central Way, Wembley Middlesex, HA9 0HR. Tel: (0208) 903 2624 Fax: 0208) 903 5377

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Supplier:

CEMEX (Formerly RMC)

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