Fibre reinforcement for provinces: tendering for sustainable roads

Provinces manage a significant share of the Dutch provincial road network and play a key role in pilot projects with innovative road materials. This article discusses how provinces can incorporate fibre reinforcement into their tenders and maintenance programmes.

The role of provinces in road innovation

Provinces often have, more so than many municipalities, the scale and expertise to act as a testing ground for innovative road materials. Provincie Utrecht, for instance, has laid multiple trial sections of bio-based asphalt in collaboration with market parties within its CIRCUROAD programme. Provinces can fulfil that same role for fibre-reinforced asphalt and concrete.

Why is fibre reinforcement relevant for provincial roads?

• Higher traffic intensity than municipal roads. Provincial roads often carry higher traffic intensity than municipal roads, which strengthens the business case for lifespan-extending measures such as fibre reinforcement: the more intensive the use, the greater the benefit of a longer lifespan.

• Larger scale for trial projects. Provinces often have the capacity to lay trial sections ranging from several hundred metres to kilometres, which yields more robust practical data than small-scale municipal projects.

• Alignment with existing maintenance programmes. As with Rijkswaterstaat, provinces also face a substantial renewal challenge for bridges, viaducts and roads dating from the 1950s and 1960s — fibre reinforcement connects directly to this.

Tendering strategy for provinces

• Functional specification with room for innovation. As with municipal tenders, functional specification (based on performance requirements such as MKI score (environmental cost indicator), lifespan and production temperature) is the most effective way to give fibre reinforcement a fair chance without limiting the market.

• MEAT criteria for sustainability. Provinces can factor fibre reinforcement into Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) criteria, by explicitly rewarding sustainability performance alongside price.

• Trial sections as a stepping stone to wider application. As with the FIBRA research on the A73, a province can lay a limited trial section to gather practical data before fibre reinforcement is incorporated more widely into the maintenance programme.

Collaboration with knowledge institutions

Provinces often have direct lines to knowledge institutions and trade organisations such as the Asfalt Kenniscentrum and CROW. This makes it possible to have fibre-reinforced trial sections monitored independently, which lends the results extra authority with other road authorities.

In conclusion

Provinces are ideally suited to act as a testing ground for fibre-reinforced asphalt and concrete, thanks to their scale, higher traffic intensity and direct lines to knowledge institutions. For provinces looking to fill their maintenance challenge sustainably, fibre reinforcement is a promising, well-substantiated addition to the tendering toolkit.