CITY OF GREATER – CHANGING CONSTRUCTION – USING RECYCLED MATERIALS IN INFRASTRUCTURE

Vicki Shelton

Manager Engineering Services, City of Greater Geelong

Geelong, , Australia

Abstract

The City of Greater Geelong has been proactive in trialing changing construction methods that we are incorporating into our day to day civil works and infrastructure maintenance activities. The trial projects shall be expanded upon in this paper.

To ensure the outcomes are consistent they should meet the relevant Infrastructure design standards, a tool used by Councils to communicate design and construction expectations of civil infrastructure.

The City has adopted a common set of infrastructure standards known as the Infrastructure Design Manual (IDM). The IDM does not currently capture opportunities to deliver more sustainable infrastructure. A case study to develop a green civil infrastructure section for the IDM that provides alternative design and construction to achieve greater sustainability outcomes was completed in June 2014.

The Sustainable Infrastructure Guidelines (Draft), aims to provide advice on alternative design considerations and materials that would deliver more sustainable infrastructure through: • Using recycled materials • Reducing the carbon footprint of infrastructure projects • Reducing maintenance and operating costs • Utilising water in more efficient ways • Utilising materials from sustainable sources

Key Words

Recycled, infrastructure, sustainable, guidelines, construction, green, carbon

Introduction development and then discuss the Infrastructure Design Manual and the new This paper references the changing chapter - Sustainable Infrastructure construction methods that the City of Greater Guidelines that has been prepared and was Geelong is trialing and incorporating into its based on trial projects using alternative day to day civil works and infrastructure construction methods and materials. maintenance activities. The projects that made up the trial were; The paper shall briefly touch on the history of Steampacket Place, Geelong – Laneway; Geelong and the enormous amount of Grant St, Forrest – Concrete Footpath and infrastructure works that have been built in Car Park; Grange Park Drive, Waurn Ponds the past and what the City is faced with in the and Townsend Road, Whittington – recycled future. foam bitumen.

The paper shall then outline the current Sustainable Communities Infrastructure – Development Guidelines that inform new City of Greater Geelong 1993 saw the amalgamation of 6 councils into Located 75km south west of , the now City of Greater Geelong with a focus Geelong is Victoria’s largest provincial centre on regional and economic planning and the and its fastest growing region. ability to lobby with a strong voice to state and federal levels. Geelong is among the largest of 80 Councils which collectively represent approximately 5 The 1990’s heralded the era of Urban million Victorians. While each Council is Renewal and regeneration. The traditional independent there are common rules, mainly methods of construction were employed and in the form of State Legislation, which provide the result is the current civil assets we have the framework in which Councils operate today.

With over 240,000 residents, Geelong What we do now provides the perfect environment to balance work and home-life. The City of Greater Geelong (the City) has over $1.5b worth of civil assets that we The area is known for Urban Geelong – manage and maintain. Approximately $25M residential, commercial and industrial areas; of new civil assets are added to our portfolio - rolling hills, rural and each year. coastal lifestyle, with many attractions both natural i.e. the beaches and hinterland and If we can reduce the use of new material and man made i.e. wineries, tourist parks; and recycle existing material on some of our Residential communities in small townships. projects we are on the way to providing a more sustainable future. What we did then Supply of road making materials came from The original Geelong Town Council (GTC) onsite or local quarries such as Fyansford was incorporated on 12 October 1849. The and Drysdale, both of which are now closed. first rates levied were used for salaries and urgent street repairs. The surrounding areas Quarry material is sourced from Mountain quickly grew and the GTC borrowed funds to View Quarries at Point Wilson and Holcim carry out public works. As it grew so did the near Werribee. Material is now sought from need for modern infrastructure, electricity, further afield thus increasing the construction trams, water supply, sewerage, port, harbour miles required to deliver necessary and rail services all provided between 1880 infrastructure. and 1920. Along with our own construction works we It wasn’t until after WWI & II that the Civic received over $23M of new assets per year Precinct and community infrastructure started from private development which could be to be delivered that provided services that more sustainable. We expect Development benefited the whole community. The scope that meets the economic, social and widened to include personal health and environmental needs of current generations welfare, development planning, without compromising the needs of future environmental protection and community generations. amenities. Sustainable Communities – The 1950’s saw traffic management become Infrastructure Development Guidelines an important issue with the tram system dismantled and the first parking meters Sustainable infrastructure is based on more installed. efficient site layouts that are more compact, provide increased transport choices, reduce The outer suburbs expanded in the 1970’s water consumption and protect natural leading to a decline in the central city and its streams and watercourses. central infrastructure and facilities. Five key Council departments came together The provision does not give information on to prepare the Sustainable Communities – the standards to apply to development. Infrastructure Development Guidelines which Therefore in order to meet Sustainable set out the philosophy, principles and objectives a new chapter Sustainable expectations of the standard of development Infrastructure Guidelines (SIG) has been for future growth areas of Greater Geelong. prepared for the IDM.

The guidelines require best practice and The Aims of the SIG are to encourage; careful consideration so that good quality • Using recycled materials, outcomes are achieved without being too • Reducing the carbon footprint of prescriptive. Council is keen to encourage infrastructure projects, innovation and creativity in the design of new • Reducing maintenance and operating communities. costs, • Utilising water in more efficient ways, In promoting innovation however comes the • Utilising materials from sustainable reality of asset management and ongoing sources. operational responsibilities, so it is important that communities are developed and Funding was obtained from the Victorian improved with sustainable outcomes in mind. Local Sustainability Accord to develop Green Infrastructure Standards or the Sustainable These key points have been emphasised Infrastructure guidelines as an appendix to throughout the guidelines because achieving the IDM. this balance can be the biggest challenge. The project involved; The guidelines are used as an important tool • Identifying sustainable and greener by the Statutory planning department to guide design and materials and undertaking their process market assessment of the availability of sustainable products; The Principles within the guidelines focus on • Construction of 4 demonstration projects; Sustainable Communities. They focus on • Preparing a final report and case study for livability and quality of life and acknowledge each project including; the importance of residents feeling connected • how the guidelines impacted the to their communities. project • determining the carbon footprint The guidelines pick up these principles and for each project and comparing apply them to the design and development of this to the carbon footprint without infrastructure. We are trying to avoid the applying the guidelines and mistakes often made where infrastructure can • determining the cost comparisons be an impediment to safe and welcoming for construction, operation and communities. maintenance.

Infrastructure Design Manual - The three projects were split between Sustainable Infrastructure Guidelines Greater Geelong City Council and Colac Otway . They include a trafficked The City has adopted the Infrastructure laneway redevelopment, Steampacket Place; Design Manual (IDM) as its’ standard for the the construction of a footpath and car park design and construction of infrastructure Grant St, Forrest; and pavement within the City and in particular, the standard rehabilitations using foamed bitumen asphalt for civil works in subdivisions. There is a Grange Park Drive and Townsend Road current provision in the IDM for Council’s to Recycled. consider innovation and advances in technology as alternative treatments provided The key performance indicators assessed for they meet the objectives of the IDM. This is at each project were; the discretion of each Council. • Carbon Footprint • Cost • Constructability Most of the new job was concrete pavement, • Availability of materials replacing asphalt road and concrete paver • Design Initiatives footpaths. The City prepared some test • Net Flora Increase panels at the Belmont Works Depot with • Use of sustainable / alternative materials various concrete mixes that included different • Drainage quantities of manufactured sand, recycled • Maintenance crushed concrete aggregate and low carbon • Appearance/Aesthetics cement with different percentages of fly ash, and slag. Steampacket Place, Geelong The City of Greater Geelong carried out the The new low carbon Concrete mix was made Reconstruction of Steampacket Place in up of manufactured sand, (from recycled Geelong in 2014. crushed concrete), aggregate (from recycled crushed concrete and bricks) and cement The site is a laneway off Eastern Beach Road (eco-blend made up of fly ash, slag and GP). near the waterfront of Geelong. Steampacket In addition to the mix, 100% Recycled water Place is a well used laneway with 2 way was used which is collected in the plant from traffic. The main door to the Novotel and its wash down processes. Edgewater apartments is off the laneway as well as car parks for adjoining apartments. The Reo used was Onesteel Ecoreo, (from The laneway also services delivery and recycled steel and energy reducing polymer rubbish vehicles for waterfront businesses. injection technology). The lane is a main pedestrian route into the abutting businesses and connects through to The asphalt pavement was demolished and Brougham street and the main City Centre. any reusable excavated materials were taken to a recycling plant for reuse. After The works included: excavation works, a doweled reinforced • The removal of asphalt pavement, concrete pavement was constructed. precast pavement and bluestone pavement. The 100 mm deep sub-base was replaced • Construction of new pavement, drainage with Recycled Crushed Concrete, further infrastructure, furniture, lighting and reducing the need for virgin quarried material. landscaping. • Inclusion of Stormwater quality treatment. A bio filter was constructed in place of the concrete kerb. The bio filter at Steampacket The whole supply chain was reviewed during place is multilayered and consists of a the construction of the job. vegetated layer, overlying a filter media, transition layer and drainage layer with a In the tender documents extra detail was perforated collection pipe. added around waste disposal and new material use. The documents specifically The runoff is firstly filtered through the required that demolition and disposal of surface vegetation which settles coarse to asphalt should go to the City’s Belmont medium sized sediments, then percolates Works Depot for recycling and already through the well-graded sand filter media crushed asphalt should come back to the site which filters fine sediment and finally into the for sub-base bedding. Demolition and perforated collection pipe for discharge into disposal of concrete went to Local Mix existing stormwater infrastructure. A central Concreting for recycling. rain garden pit was also constructed. Similar to the bio retention system, the rain garden is The tender documents specified that the positioned to collect storm water runoff and concrete mix was to be sourced from Local filter through a multilayered soil system, Mix or a similar approved product if this was eventually discharging excess water to not available. existing drainage infrastructure

Eight large trees were planted providing drainage had some opportunities to shade in warmer months and allowing implement sustainable elements. sunlight to penetrate during cooler months. Sustainable opportunities missed included The sustainable outcomes achieved on this the use of Warm Mix Asphalt, project were: Alternative/recycled granular materials, Water • Net flora increase was achieved Sensitive Urban Design and Landscaping. • Improved the general appearance of the laneway by providing lighter neutral tones The contractor was only able to reuse a small accompanied by green natural elements amount of existing pavement material and and creative lighting. topsoil due to poor quality and contamination • Reduced carbon footprint of 4,900 issues. Careful curing of concrete was KgCO2 required to prevent dusting and cracking. • Cost difference of $27,700 • Alternative materials were readily The sustainable outcomes achieved on this available. Sand filter media had strict project were: grading requirements and had to be • Reduced carbon footprint of 7,800 kgCO2 batched specifically for this job. • Cost difference of $3,006 • Stormwater outflow is reduced, water • Alternative materials were readily quality is improved available. • Generally low maintenance. Bio retention system will need to be monitored for silt Foam Bitumen Asphalt build up and maintenance of plants. City of Greater Geelong initiated two pavement rehabilitation projects one in Grant Street, Forrest Grange Park Drive, Waurn Ponds and the Colac Otway Shire carried out construction other in Townsend Rd, Whittington. works at Grant Street, Forrest. A new 334 metre footpath has been constructed which Both pavements were in need of runs along the Eastern side of Grant St rehabilitation due to visible pavement defects connecting Blundy St and Henry St. There is caused by a weak sub-grade and high a crossing point approximately midway along volumes of heavy vehicles. The sustainable the footpath which crosses both Grant St and treatment that was proposed for these two the adjacent access road. roads was pavement reconstruction using Recycled Foamed Bitumen Asphalt as a The works include: stabilised base layer followed by an asphalt • Construction of new concrete footpath wearing course. • Reconstruction of car park The conventional treatment normally Sustainable Initiatives included the use of a proposed by the City is to increase the low carbon concrete footpath and the reuse pavement thickness above the sub-grade by of excavated material and stripped topsoil. reconstruction. This option involves 300 mm of imported gravel rather than 200 mm of The Cementitious component of the Green stabilised. The gravel base course is a virgin Star Concrete comprised of 40% slag which quarried material and transported from is quite high. The low carbon concrete elsewhere to the site. The excavated required longer curing times due to the high pavement is not reused and treated as a proportion of SCMs. Therefore the contractor waste material and carted offsite. needed to investigate curing options for the concrete slab. Emphasis was placed on reusing existing materials through the addition of Foamed There were some potential design initiatives Bitumen Asphalt. The insitu pavement in the IDM that could have been implemented material was improved through stabilisation but weren’t. For example, the materials in the and was then reused in the new construction. asphalt car park and the surrounding The reuse of these materials meant that spoil was reduced and the need for virgin materials was also reduced. There were some Fitting with existing infrastructure did limit constructability issues with soft sub-grade sustainability initiatives. This was indentified which required unplanned sub-grade in the Grant St project where surplus material stabilisation with lime. was not suitable for reuse and in Steampacket Place where recycled concrete The benefits of the alternative construction sub-grade was used in preference to the method were asphalt won from the site. • 200 mm foamed bitumen layer equivalent to 300 mm unbound layer Pre planning is necessary to identify • Reduces demand for quarried virgin opportunities for use of existing and recycled pavement materials and disposal of materials from a site. Inclusion of sustainable excavated pavement material when initiatives such as Water Sensitive Urban granular replacement is utilised Design and landscaping to enhance the • Both increase stiffness above weak sub- aesthetics and liveability of a new asset is grade encouraged and supported. • Foamed Bitumen acts as a bound layer and achieves equivalent strength of a Overall the City of Greater Geelong is keen to thicker unbound granular layer try new methods of construction that are • Batching plant is mobile and can be sustainable and will stretch our dollar further positioned near the site where suitable but at the same time providing long lasting space is available infrastructure into the future. • Ready to begin manufacturing Foam Mix within two hours Conclusion • All other plant to remove and relay the pavement is the same as traditional The information gathered from these four techniques. projects has now been included in a draft chapter for the IDM. Access to the The sustainable outcomes achieved on this Sustainable Infrastructure Guidelines will project were: become available via the IDM website at • Reuse existing gravel as base course www.designmanual.com.au when it is • Foamed cold mix bitumen utilises bitumen released in September 2015 following at much lower temperatures with consultation with stakeholders. environmental and safety benefits The Objectives of the Sustainable • Reduced carbon footprint of 22,130 Infrastructure Guidelines are: KgCO2 • To provide a range of alternative • Cost difference of $120/sqm (foamed) vs sustainable design options and materials $172/sqm (conventional) that reduce the carbon footprint of • Alternative materials were readily infrastructure projects recognising that available. some options can be adopted immediately, some may be more suitable The trial projects met the following aims of in urban environments than rural and the IDM - Sustainable Infrastructure others may be more aspirational and may Guidelines. require regulatory or policy change or • Using recycled materials, innovation in order to be delivered; • Reducing the carbon footprint of • To provide infrastructure in a way that infrastructure projects, preserves the natural environment, • Reducing maintenance and operating protects habitat and maintains or costs, increases biodiversity; • Utilising water in more efficient ways, • To provide infrastructure that uses • Utilising materials from sustainable stormwater more efficiently by reducing sources. peak volumes and increasing the volume that is retained in the water sensitive The main focus was on material substitution. design elements prior to discharge to A positive outcome was the reduction in watercourses; carbon footprint achieved for all projects. • To better integrate design elements such Acknowledgements as road, landscape and stormwater conveyance to increase sustainability and I wish to acknowledge Pitt & Sherry and the meet amenity, accessibility and level of IDM Governance group. service provisions whilst delivering greater aesthetics; I would like to thank the staff of City of • To introduce processes such as the use Greater Geelong for supporting these of rating tools whereby projects can be projects. evaluated on sustainability criteria, compared with other projects and I would also like to thank Paula Gardner, from improved; Colac Otway Shire for the Grant Street • To increase confidence levels in the use project. of alternative designs and materials; • To encourage broader thinking around References sustainability initiatives at the design stage. www.designmanual.com.au Conley, D (2014) IDM Sustainable Infrastructure Guideline: Case Study IPWEA Sustainability in Public Works Conference 2014

Kop, R (2013) IDM governance group report to DEPI (Draft) (Refer to website www.designmanual.com.au)

Author Biography & Photo Vicki Shelton is the Manager Engineering Services in the City Services Division for the City of Greater Geelong, Victoria, Australia. She is a qualified Civil Engineer with over 28 years experience in Local Government in the Geelong Region.

Vicki has completed an MBA Technology Management and Post Graduate in Municipal Engineering. Vicki received the 2008 Municipal Engineering Foundation Vic Overseas Study Award. She is Immediate Past President and a Board member of IPWEA Vic Division and is the IPWEA Vic Geelong Regional Group Chairperson.

Contact: PO Box 104 Geelong, 3220 Victoria, Australia. Email: [email protected]