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Sorigué covers the streets of Granada with sustainable asphalt

February 27, 2023

Granada City Council is starting the first asphalt plan in Spain with a mix named MASAI. Manufactured at low temperatures and with recycled materials, this paving offers proven high resistance and sustainability.

Sorigué and Granada City Council are launching the first asphalt plan in Spain with MASAI asphalt in the urban wearing course. Bituminous mixes incorporating milled material help to improve the sustainability of road construction.

Made from 20% recycled asphalt (RA), MASAI responds to the basic principle of the circular economy in terms of resource optimisation.

In addition, in this project we have reduced the manufacturing temperature to below 140ºC using surfactant additives that change the surface tension of the aggregate. This manufacturing technique reduces CO2 emissions by lowering the manufacturing temperature by around 30ºC, which is below that required for conventional paving.

The techniques for developing the Sustainable, Automated and Intelligent Asphalt Materials (or MASAI to use the Spanish acronym) are backed by the Construction Engineering Department of the University of Granada and have already been tested successfully on several roads in the Andalusian network such as the A-92 and A-4026, Puerto de la Mora, Pinos Genil, Cájar and Guadix, among others.

Pioneering experience on urban roads

The next step in this asphalt plan has been taken by Granada City Council with the first trial of a wearing course on urban roads. Recycled asphalt (RA) wearing courses have been used on roads for 10 years, but until now they have not been used on streets in a city in Andalusia.

Sorigué is in charge of the application on the streets of Granada. This new pavement replaces the existing pavement, which has aged and deteriorated due to wear and tear, and preserves the service life of the roads thanks to its high mechanical and functional performance.

In addition to these characteristics, the reduction of waste and the optimal use of resources in their manufacture are also important. It is estimated that 1,400 tonnes of reclaimed aggregate from deteriorated roads, among other materials, are used to make this asphalt mix. A new opportunity for waste that would otherwise end up in landfill.

With this project underway, Sorigué remains firm in its commitment to contribute to the decarbonisation of the environment and the strengthening of the circular economy in all areas. With a presence almost everywhere in the country, Sorigué is a business group founded in 1954 that today has more than 20 active companies and a presence in Andalusia dating back six decades.