Construction Archives

Q: What can be made with the equivalent of 252 glass bottles & 300kg of recycled asphalt?

A: A tonne of Yalliphalt – one of the latest innovations in environmentally sustainable civil construction materials in Australia.

Our extensive range of fixed and mobile asphalt plants across NSW includes the latest High Recycling Technology (HRT) Series mixing plants. These plants are the most advanced facilities of their kind in Australia, capable of producing up to 50 percent recycled asphalt. We also have the capability to manufacture Low Carbon Asphalt, reducing energy consumption and emissions through the production process.

In civil engineering and construction, asphalt has been the most environmentally sustainable paving material thanks to its recyclability. As asphalt pavements are 100% recyclable, Kypreos Group is committed to utilising this RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement) in asphalt mix designs. Now, asphalt is being combined with recycled glass and soft plastics to make tougher and even eco-friendlier roads, driveways, highways and, soon, airport runways.

In August 2018, the first ever “rubbish” road in Australia, Rayfield Avenue, was constructed with Plastiphalt in a northern suburb in Melbourne. Hume City’s mayor Geoff Porter said the amount of rubbish going into this 300-metre stretch of road was comparable to what could be collected in Rayfield Avenue residents’ recycle bins over a 10-year period.

A few months later, in October 2018, ACT Minister for Roads announced the start of the state’s annual resurfacing program for 2018-2019, which will include the trial of Plastiphalt on existing sections of Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Drive.

Normally, asphalt production involves mixing an aggregate (crushed stone and sand) with bitumen, a by-product of crude oil distillation which acts as a liquid binder holding the asphalt together. The connection to plastic lies in that both bitumen and plastic are polymers, whose long strands of strongly bound together molecules give them the strength and longevity required in road construction. So instead of producing more bitumen, manufacturers can add soft plastic to the mixture, which helps prevent billions of plastic bags and glass bottles from ending up in already gigantic landfills.

What’s more: in Plastiphalt, the plastic is completely melted into the bitumen like sugar in hot coffee, leaving behind no traces of microbeads that are detrimental to marine life when dumped into bodies of water. The one caveat upon its first introductions was its infancy – only time could tell whether this environmentally sustainable material is also structurally sustainable. On the other hand, this type of asphalt is cost competitive, and improvements have been made to fatigue life, giving road surfaces more longevity and capability to handle heavy traffic.

Before the addition of waste and recyclables to asphalt, companies like Kypreos Group had already been endeavouring to utilise warm-mix asphalt (WMA) technologies to reduce carbon footprints. The lower temperatures required for WMA production and placement compared to traditional hot-mix asphalt means a reduction in both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

These environmentally conscious attempts are not limited to Australia. In fact, since 2002, at least 16,000 km of road in India has been paved using asphalt made with bitumen-modified plastic, thanks to the ingenuity of Dr Vasudesan, dean and professor of chemistry at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering. The very first 20-metre prototype of plastic-modified bitumen road within his campus is still going strong after almost twenty years.

In New Zealand last year, a large-scale trial of plastic-incorporated asphalt was conducted at Christchurch International Airport. 3100 four-litre plastic oil containers went into the 250 tonnes of asphalt laid in half of the airport’s fire station. The mix was specially designed to handle heavy to extreme vehicle traffic loading typical of ports and airport projects.

Joining these major efforts in waste reduction, Kypreos Group is devoted to monitoring our ecological impact and our environmental footprints, through the implementation of eco-friendly technologies and pollution prevention. We are taking strides to build the roads of tomorrow, sustainably.

A snapshot of the construction sector

As of 2018, Australia’s construction industry comprises 8% of our GDP, contributing $134.2 billion to the country’s economy. This largest non-service sector is attracting increasing investment as population rises rapidly and construction work in urban areas is speeding to catch up, with a consistent 2% growth in the total number of active projects every quarter. At the heart of these developments are the 1.1 million—and soon many more—Australians working in construction in various capacities.

The role of our people and our responsibility to them

To manage heavy building materials and large, potentially dangerous pieces of equipment, the construction industry needs strong and trustworthy hands. No matter how advanced, no excavators or road profilers can function without qualified people behind the wheel and no projects can take shape without skilful minds working out the nitty-gritty.

People are at the centre of this sector we are in. They contribute their strengths and skills, and the leaders in the industry in turn must provide them the training and support they need to perform at their best. This support can come in the form of professional training and career guidance.

Professional training and safety management

With a large part of companies’ investment going into machinery, it is crucial to have skilled, qualified workers to operate and maintain these pieces of equipment on a regular basis and to a strict standard. Doing this helps the machines last through years of extensive labour and become worth the initial expense.

The NSW Government expenditure encourages a focus on investing in skills development for all construction workers at every level. At the very basic, construction companies are obliged to provide employees with workplace-specific inductions at the beginning of every project. Safe Work regulations require any person new to the construction industry and carrying out construction work to complete general induction training (to receive the “White Card”), but in most cases, all workers starting at a new site are encouraged to participate in this induction, where they can familiarise themselves with the health and safety matters specific to that construction site. There is also task-specific training which aims to equip workers with crucial information and instruction to undertake a particular construction activity regarding the risks and control measures relating to that task.

Rigorous monitoring and assessment of safe working conditions and employees’ health is ingrained in our everyday procedures. Our safety training is well in line with government requirements—our safe systems of work have been measured and audited against both federal and international management system standards and consequently accredited against these benchmarks.

Safety of both the community and our personnel is what we consider success. It is our absolute priority to ensure that our people return safely to their homes and families at the end of each workday.

Career development

At Kypreos Group, we foster an environment of continuous education and support for our people—our most valuable asset—to advance their career paths.

Our training and development process is a planning and review circle, designed to support, challenge and encourage staff to reach their full potential. At every level of management, there is guaranteed to be regular, meaningful performance evaluation with supervisors who strive to give constructive feedback. We also provide clear development plans for staff to be aware of where their contribution fits into the larger goals of the company, and to effectively align their individual goals with the company’s operational and strategic objectives. All these practices enhance trust and ensure ongoing, open communication.

In the past, our graduate program has helped aspiring workers gain their footing in the industry, through providing these graduates with the mentorship and guidance of our senior staff, who are experts in the sector. Also, as a growing percentage of our workforce surpassed 10 years of service, we developed the 10 Year Club as a way to express our gratitude for their lasting contribution to our growth, and to recognise and celebrate their achievements.

We believe that showing genuine appreciation to staff and maintaining high levels of employee engagement is the key to staff retention and the fostering of a strong company – worker relationship.

When skilled and conscientious people are at the heart of what you do, it is your job to nurture their capabilities.

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The Kypreos Group is committed to promoting training and skills development opportunities. We deliver the right people with the right skills at the right time, to deliver company objectives and outcomes. To know more about our standards in safety and professional training, and to see the major projects carried out by our people – visit our website.