RAP impresses at LAMA awards

Monaghan's Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement pilot to be rolled out nationally

An award-winning innovation by Monaghan County Council in road maintenance is set to become nationally implemented, Monday’s meeting of the local authority was told.

The other elected members joined with their Cathaoirleach, Cllr P.J. O’Hanlon (FF) in commending the Roads Section personnel whose Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) project earned the National Energy Decarbonisation accolade at last weekend’s awards ceremony of the Local Authority Members Association (LAMA).

The council has developed a low-carbon technique to produce a road repair material from reclaimed asphalt blended with bitumen emulsion and cement.

Director of Transportation Services Nial O’Connor told Monday’s meeting that the LAMA award is a fantastic achievement and the accumulation of a long number of years of work. To get a new product to market and out of the waste mainstream is a significant attainment, Mr O’Connor stated.

He added that the initial pilot project that the local authority used to trial the system will now be integrated into their low-cost road maintenance strategy.

Senior Roads Engineer Kevin West, who was at the forefront of the project’s development, thanked the council management team for their support and acknowledged the work of the elected members in bringing the RAP initiative forward and helping develop the council’s new roads strategy.

“There is a risk in taking such projects on,” Mr West stated, “but the members saw the benefit of what we were trying to do.”

He pointed out that 35 kilometres of road in the county has been upgraded by this method over the past five years, translating into an additional €4M investment in their crucial regional transport network. The technique will now enter the council’s everyday road maintenance programme.

Chief Executive Robert Burns said it is a great source of comfort and satisfaction to have staff like Kevin West and his team in the Roads Section to devise and initiate such projects. The initiative has already performed a significant service to County Monaghan and the other counties involved in the pilot project.

“I have no doubt this will now be rolled out as a national scheme as part of climate-proofing our country,” Mr Burns added.

The award, he said, is “great recognition for all the hard work that has been done”.

“It is great to see Monaghan County Council leading the way and innovating, not for the first time,” said Cllr Noel Keelan (SF).

Describing the initiative as “an extraordinary piece of work”, Cllr Sean Gilliland (FG) said it was rooted in business-like thinking.

“We took the risks, put a plan together, developed a pilot programme and this project is now nationally recognised,” he added. “It is a new approach led by innovative, outside the box thinking.”

Cllr Colm Carthy (SF) said the approach will reduce carbon output considerably as it places the production and generation of road repair material closer to the site of the works.

His party colleague Cllr Pat Treanor recalled the enthusiasm of those working on the pilot project when elected members were given a briefing on it at the County Council’s Carrickmacross roads depot.

“Road maintenance is one of the big issues for elected representatives,” Cllr Treanor stated, “and it is fantastic to see this service improve in an innovative way.”

Cllr Raymond Aughey (FF), who chairs the Council’s Strategic Policy Committee on Transport, expressed his pride in the Roads Section. Material that had been dumped in the past is now being used in a way that benefits the environment.

Cllr Aughey believed the project bodes well for future roads funding from the Department of Transport. “The Department has now seen us allocating our own money to this project and tackling our roads problems through innovation,” he stated.

Cllr Seán Conlon said the awards ceremony was a proud moment for him as the County Council’s LAMA representative. He recalled the initial presentation on the project made by Kevin West to the Transport SPC in 2020. “Since then, Kevin and his team have put in the hard miles.”

Cllr Conlon asked the status of the plant originally involved in the project, noting that it had been brought in from Germany.

Mr West said a number of contractors had bought the plant and were looking to actively tender for works involving reclaimed asphalt.