In mid 2015, CIDAUT started the LIFE-SOUNDLESS project (New Generation of eco-friendly asphalts with recycled materials and high durability and acoustic performance). CIDAUT is member of LIFE-SOUNDLESS project together with the Consejería de Fomento de la Junta de Andalucía (coordinating beneficiary) and Eiffage Infraestructuras (associated beneficiary).
The LIFE-SOUNDLESS project aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative noise reducing asphalt mixes (SMA-like thin layer), using waste products from other industries, to mitigate acoustic contamination at the point of origin, while ensuring their durability, and ultimately to encourage public bodies to integrate environmental aspects into their calls for tender in pavement construction. Hence LIFE-SOUNDLESS has been conceived as an effective solution to shape a sustainable and healthy future for urban areas.
This project is an EU-funded project under the LIFE programme, with a total budget of 1,512,511 Euros, whose general objectives are the following ones:
- To reduce noise from roads inside densely populated urban and interurban areas by means of innovative noise reducing asphalt mixes with new additives.
- To improve environmental performance of urban areas by implementing eco-friendly, long-life and cost-effective pavements.
- To validate a feasible initiative to valorise rubber, plastic and fibre waste and to facilitate a new and wider market for these waste materials.
- To improve the knowledge data for the development of recommendations on the use of low noise surfaces and therefore to contribute to the adoption of European specifications for noise-reducing asphalt pavements.
- To assess the evolution of the acoustic performance of this type of mixes in warm zones where the increment of bitumen could generate another issues different from the northern countries.
Different tasks have been carried out, like searching and characterising of the pilot sites in different roads of the Junta de Andalucía. Also an initial characterization of different mixes (up to 20 different mixtures) has been carried out; not only under durability point of view but also a noise characterization has been done. The mixes to carry out the test tracks have been selected in order to be installed in proximate dates.