Sustainable value chain and material use in road construction

New Weiers project Sustainable value chain and resource use in road construction has a framework of almost 124 million NOK, of which 86.5 million NOK came as an allocation from Green Platform in December 2022. The main goal is to help Nye Veier achieve the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in road construction by 50% by 2030.

Project Period: 2023—2026
Frame: NOK 123.6 million

The project has 17 participants from the entire value chain who together will develop and pilot at least 10 new sustainable solutions to be piloted for use in road bodies, tunnels and constructions along the road. All solutions are based on the reuse of waste products, mass withdrawal or the use of by-products. As an overall result of the project, a system will be established that in the future will make it easier for new solutions to come from idea to market, and which will thus benefit the entire industry. It is estimated that the potential for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is 59% if all the new solutions can be industrialized and adopted by the entire industry.

New materials and solutions

An efficient, environmentally friendly and safe transport system is one of the most important pillars of a modern society, and an essential prerequisite for value creation and welfare. New roads will be built, existing roads will have to be renovated for the foreseeable future, and major investment in the industry is needed. In order for Norway to meet its commitments to halving greenhouse gas emissions, the transport industry is completely dependent on developing and adopting new materials and solutions. Construction is the country's largest district industry and Norway's second largest mainland industry, with nearly 57,000 enterprises and a total of just over 260,000 employees. The industry has unique prerequisites for delivering climate-smart solutions and materials due to the high proportion of renewable power, high expertise and innovation capacity.

Global market

Nye Veier and Statens vegvesen (SVV) have clear goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and negative impacts on valuable land and natural diversity in transport projects. This will help Norwegian players who develop new climate-friendly technologies for road construction to gain a competitive advantage and better conditions for success in scaling and exporting. We know that the international market for more climate-friendly solutions will be huge in the coming years. Calculations by the Global Infrastructure Hub commissioned by G20 countries show that global road investments of $13,100 billion are needed over the next ten years.

In order for road construction to become more climate-friendly and environmentally friendly, we need to increase the pace of transition to green and innovative solutions. The road from pilot to market today is unfortunately both time-consuming and extensive. The risks of adopting newly piloted technology must come down. We will develop new knowledge about actual drivers and barriers in innovation work in Norwegian road construction, and process these to develop a system that promotes, and does not inhibit, innovation. The project will strengthen Norwegian companies' competitive advantages in Norwegian and international markets and contribute to securing and creating jobs in Norway.

Main goals and milestones

The main objective of the project is to develop new Norwegian sustainable technologies and expertise with great export potential, which contribute to Nye Veier reaching the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions during the construction phase of a road project by 50% by 2030.

• Objective 1: Develop research-based knowledge of optimal solution choices and designs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in road construction

• Goal 2: Test, verify, pilot and industrialize at least 10 new climate-friendly and resource-efficient solutions with high export potential based on the reuse of materials and by-products from industry.

• Goal 3: Build a strong value chain across disciplines, technology areas and competence environments to reduce barriers and identify effective incentive schemes that accelerate the journey from idea to market nationally and internationally.

A minimum of 10 new, innovative solutions for road bodies, tunnels and structures along the road will be qualified and piloted in a collaboration between companies that own the solutions, knowledge communities, New Roads and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

The solutions developed in the project will be piloted in the ongoing development projects of Nye Veier and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. And at least 6 of the solutions are expected to be in scaled-down production and on the road to market during the project period. The project is divided into six work packages:

• DP1 Project Management and Dissemination

• DP2 Solutions for reduced resource use and lower emissions

• DP3 Road body

• DP4 Tunnel

• DP5 Constructions ply veg

• DP6 “European road” for new Norwegian technology

Partners

The project is a national project with actors mainly from Rogaland, Agder, Trøndelag and Viken.

The project manager isNye Veier AS. Other partners are Bertelsen and Garpestad AS, Eramet Norway AS, Foamrox AS, Future Materials Catapult Center, Norconsult AS, NTNU, Roxel Infra AS, Rygene-Smith & Thommesen, Saferock AS, SINTEF, Skanska Norge AS, Statens vegvesen, Universitetet i Agder, Velde Industri AS, Velde Industri AS and VIA, which has the role of project leader.

The project is funded by the Swedish Research Council, Innovation Norway and SIVA through Green Platform. The companies participating in the project contribute their own efforts in accordance with the State Aid Code.

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