A pilot project to build a road using recycled materials from construction and public works waste on National Road 3 (RN3) in the governorate of Ben Arous was officially launched on Wednesday at a workshop in Gammarth on the theme: "Tunisia on the road to a sustainable circular economy for an accelerated ecological transition." The road, which will be built as part of the RE-MED project co-funded by the European Union, is 1.2 kilometres long. It comprises 4 sections: 3 sections that will serve to test the integration of one or more recycled materials, and a 4th that will be a reference section built using natural, non-renewable materials. This road will be equipped with sensors to monitor its performance in real time under the effect of traffic and changing climatic conditions. The goal is to assess the new road structures and analyse the impact of climatic variations. The sensors also collect data to detect deterioration such as wear, cracks and deformation, so that problems can be identified as soon as they appear. The data also helps create mechanical behaviour models to simulate pavement responses to various stresses. The goals of this project, as presented by RE-MED project coordinator Oumaya Marzouk, are to demonstrate the value of recycling construction and demolition materials in a context of tension on the aggregates market, to create local jobs, to reduce the health and flooding risks associated with the proliferation of landfill sites for construction and public works materials, to reduce the pressure on land and the carbon footprint, and to adapt roads to climate change. Speaking at the workshop, Minister of Public Works and Housing Sarra Zaafrani said that "the creation of a test bed on National Road No. 3 is a pilot experiment aimed at validating a new product and a new procedure." "The proper monitoring and optimum management of the data received from the monitoring system, used for the first time in Tunisia in road construction, will enable us to compare the behaviour of pavements built using natural raw materials and those made from recycled materials, and to assess the technical effectiveness of using demolition and construction waste." "In addition to technical validation, a regulatory, legal and normative basis is recommended to ensure the introduction of demolition and construction waste into the road construction market in Tunisia and to provide the various stakeholders with the necessary guarantees." She added that "the management of demolition and construction waste represents a major challenge, given the limited resources of raw materials and the positive impact on the environment and public health." Taking the floor, Environment Minister Leila Chikhaoui pointed out that the recovery of demolition and construction waste is an important part of the national circular waste management strategy adopted as part of the National Strategy for Ecological Transition approved last February. Chikhaoui considered that the recovery of construction and public works waste would help solve ecological problems (freeing up the space occupied by this waste), economic problems (injecting new resources into the infrastructure and urban furniture construction market) and social problems (creating businesses and jobs). The RE-MED project: "Application of innovation for the development of the circular economy for sustainable construction in the Mediterranean" is a partnership between 4 countries around the Mediterranean (France, Italy, Lebanon and Tunisia) to promote the use of the circular economy in the construction and demolition waste sector. More

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse