Said to be the world’s first digital material platform, ORIS helps assess road designs at a very early stage with a holistic view including both the construction and maintenance phases of road projects. Thanks to a powerful algorithm, ORIS supports road investors, owners and designers in properly estimating their project impacts, analyse local natural resources, optimise construction budgets, increase sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Initial tests are said to show that when using ORIS costs for road projects can be reduced by up to 30%, while also cutting their carbon footprint by up to half. At the same time, the durability of these projects using ORIS can be increased three-fold.
Beyond innovative pavement solutions, road structures, special binders or construction material services, LafargeHolcim is also introducing COPave in Abu Dhabi. Developed within two years at the company’s global Innovation Centre in Lyon, France, the carbon calculator will allow road contractors to evaluate precisely the environmental footprint of their roads and enable them be made as carbon-efficient as possible. COPave covers data from five continents and is a collaborative integrated service that can be used for new road projects but also maintenance programs. COPave has been assessed and recommended by the BRE (Building Research Establishment) in the UK for the quality of its analysis.
The World Road Congress, held from October 6-10 2019, is organised every four years and brings together government authorities, road and transport administrations and organisations, academics, as well as solutions providers.
Nicolas Miravalls, head of roads at LafargeHolcim, said: “The road infrastructure market accounts for more than CHF 550 billion worldwide. LafargeHolcim’s game-changing digital solutions are further strengthening our integrated road offer and will become key drivers for our infrastructure business. The optimisation of road designs and material use are significant enablers to improve sustainability in road infrastructure. The choice of road design, and material sourcing have massive impacts on the costs, carbon footprint, durability and safety. That is why developing intelligent and integrated road solutions is a priority for LafargeHolcim.”
Around 700,000 kilometres of roads are built every year across the world, making road transportation a major source of carbon emissions worldwide, representing around 18% of global emissions. Because each road is different, it is a complex challenge to define the most sustainable and cost effective solutions adapted to their local resources environment.
LafargeHolcim is involved in several road projects in over 40 countries worldwide. The company has contributed to important road infrastructure over the past years, such as the Edmonton Ring Road in Canada, Sokna motorway in Egypt and the S5 expressway in Poland, and is currently delivering a major paving project on the A14 in Cambridge UK.
