MRPV – M80 Sydney Road to Edgars Road

The Project demonstrated a material impact reduction of 37.7% or 201,125 EnviroPoints compared to the base case. The main types of initiatives that contributed to the materials reduction include reduced design quantities, increased SCM and recycled content, and reduced transport distances.  

The Project achieved a total landfill diversion rate of 100% for spoil material, 99.55% for inert and non-hazardous waste and 64.10% for office waste. The Project utilised all non-contaminated spoil on site or deposited it to a resource recovery centre to be beneficially repurposed.  

For ecological enhancement, the Project has obtained native vegetation offsets (with a Habitat Hectares score of 0.0636) for the clearing of scattered red rivergum trees (HHa score of 0.0424).  Additionally, to minimise impact to the Growling Grass Frogs (GGF) found on site, the Project has installed a GGF fence to differentiate the frog habitat from the construction area.   

State First 

The Project utilised an automated robotic surveyor as an alternative to manual surveying and line marking practices. The following sustainability benefits from this innovation include: 

• Approximate emissions reduction of 25,121 kg CO2-e due to the surveyor being battery powered and reduced operation time needed. 
• Improved worker safety by removing team members from live traffic environments. 
• Increased time, fuel, and resource efficiency (leading to an approximate cost benefit saving of $90,000)  

State First (awarded under 12 month ruling) 

Reconophalt was utilised as an alternative to asphalt pavement on the roadways of the project. The material has additionally been tested and approved for use in major SI layer of the freeway pavement. The sustainability benefits derived from the large-scale application of this product include: 

• an average reduction in environmental impact by 61-63% compared to the existing industry standard 
• improving the local market availability of a sustainable material alternative  

State First 

The Project utilised the Gravity Bar product to fasten steel barriers to the road surfaces across the lifetime of the project. Compared to the industry standard of using threaded bars as pins, the Gravity Bar reduces the need to install over 1000 additional pins. This in turn, reduces the associated installation and maintenance works and live traffic closures involved. Additionally, its higher performance and re-usability directly results in reduced instances of crews replacing pin locations.  

State First 

The Project procured a total of 2,726m3 of pre-cast concrete barriers with 50% SCM content as an alternative to the usual pre-cast concrete for replacement barriers. This innovation represents a first for freeways in an urban setting (Victoria).  

State First 

The Project identified an opportunity for a sustainable material alternative whilst working alongside Repurpose It (the supplier). The initiative involved using stabilised recycled glass sand backfill behind barriers and ramps along the project. The sustainability benefits were derived from the reduced transport impacts from the local supplier, and development of a new circular material stream.  

State First (awarded under 12 month ruling) 

The Project engaged with discussions with Holcim to utilise Emesh (recycled plastic fibre product that replaces steel reinforcement mesh). The product was used for the shared user paths, median strips and ITS pits surrounds and hardstands. The sustainability benefits of this innovation demonstrated by the Project include: 

• an average reduction in material lifecycle impacts by 44% compared to the industry standard of steel reinforcement  
• developing the cost competitiveness of the product  
• engagement with a NDIS employer through Fibercon to facilitate the package of Emesh material 

• Reconophalt by Downer 
• Emesh by Fibercon (and installed by Holcim) 
• SiteHive environmental monitoring equipment