Banner image: RMIT University’s Dr. Rajeev Roychand (pictured centre) celebrating the successful laying of coffee biochar concrete with MRPV and BildGroup staff on the Pakenham Roads Upgrade. Pictured from left: MRPV’s Kristian Horana and Paul Sklepic, RMIT University’s Dr. Rajeev Roychand and BildGroup’s Stephen Hill and Gary Fox.
From cafes across the state to the McGregor Road footpath, Major Road Projects Victoria is investing in innovation with RMIT University, laying the first ever section of coffee biochar concrete on the Victorian Big Build.
MRPV and project contractor BildGroup are working alongside RMIT University on the first use of coffee concrete on the Pakenham Roads Upgrade, using spent coffee grounds and converting them into an organic biochar.
With a spent coffee puck weighing approximately 10 grams, this process has the ability to pull over seven and a half billion cups’ worth of coffee grounds out of landfill in Australia each year.
For this project alone, five tonnes of spent coffee grounds – approximately 140,000 coffees worth of grounds – has been converted into two tonnes of usable biochar, which has been laid into the 30 cubic metres of concrete used in the footpath on McGregor Road, Pakenham.
Organic waste in landfill, including spent coffee grounds, contributes three per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. To overcome this challenge, the RMIT team developed a technique to convert spent coffee grounds into a coffee biochar made with a low-energy process without oxygen and use this in concrete production.
Research conducted by RMIT indicates that the use of coffee biochar in concrete has the potential to increase the strength of concrete by up to 30%, reduce the amount of fine aggregate sand and total cement needed in a concrete mix. This innovation has the potential to result in a more ecological friendly and economical alternative to traditional concrete mixes.
Biochar increases the strength of concrete while reducing the amount of fine aggregate sand and total cement needed in the concrete mix. Together with the environmental benefits, this makes biochar an attractive alternative to traditional concrete mixes.
Drivers on McGregor Road are now enjoying two lanes of travel in each direction between the expanded freeway roundabout and Henry Road/Webster Way.
From Monday 23 September, crews began works to upgrade the McGregor Road city-bound freeway entry ramp, adding an additional lane and reinstating traffic signals to manage drivers entering the freeway. While works are in progress, the entry ramp will be reduced to one lane.
Over on Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road, works are focused on building the new southbound lanes between Peet Street and Southeast Boulevard, including completing the upgrade of the freeway interchange roundabouts to traffic light intersections. The Gippsland-bound entry ramp is currently closed until mid-November to complete these works, with the city-bound exit ramp to close in early October as well.
The Australian Government is fully funding the $415.7 million Pakenham Roads Upgrade.
