Concrete roads save traffic co2 emissions and costs

Concrete roads offer the potential for significant reduction in fuel use so saving both money and CO2 emissions.

Improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency is counteracted by the increase in the amount of traffic and miles travelled to such an extent that, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, road transport accounts for 26 per cent of all UK greenhouse gases (1). Concrete roads can play a significant role in reducing fuel consumption and, therefore, the CO2 emissions of road transport.

Concrete roads are stiffer than asphalt and so have less ‘play’ when vehicle tyres roll over them. This means less rolling resistance and results in more efficient fuel consumption. These fuel savings can be particularly significant for heavy goods vehicles. This should be particular interest to Highways England that oversees the motorway and strategic road network and is working with the government on its ‘Road-to-Zero’ initiatives to reduce the UK’s vehicles emissions.

The increased fuel efficiency resulting from driving on concrete roads compared to asphalt has been proven by several research studies. Research carried out the Canadian National Research Council’s Centre for Surface Transportation Technology (2) found that at 100km/h a heavy goods lorry used up to 1.8% less fuel when travelling on a concrete road compared to an asphalt pavement and up to 3.1% less fuel compared to a composite (asphalt topcoat over concrete). When travelling at 60km/h, the fuel saving was up to 3% compared to the asphalt road and up to 6% compared to the composite road.

For a passenger car, the concrete road fuel saving was 2.9% compared with the asphalt road pavement and a reduction of 2.3% fuel consumption compared to the composite pavement.

The Canadian research has been backed up by new research carried in Sweden by the Road and Transport Research Institute (3). The Swedish research examined the fuel consumption of a Volvo car and a 60 tonne lorry on the E4 motorway north of Uppsala, Sweden, which has both concrete and asphalt sections. Driving on the concrete section the lorry used 6.7% less fuel than when driving on the asphalt section. The car used 1.1% less fuel on the concrete section compared to the asphalt.

Similarly, research carried out in Japan by the Nippon Expressway Research Institute, together with Narita International Airport and the Japan Cement Association (4) found that the fuel consumption of a heavy good vehicle is up to 3.4% less on a concrete road compared to asphalt.