This year the congress tagline was “Sustainability, innovation and culture in every journey” and the group had a booth where it showcased the road repair solutions delivered by its company Calcel while also publicising its specialisation in asphalts. 

Part of the management and professional team from the Infrastructures and Materials division additionally took part in the fair while Sorigué specialists discussed and presented solutions and projects at a number of talks at the congress. 

Sorigué’s involvement in the congress has enabled it to share its knowledge and experience in developing and applying innovative and sustainable bituminous mixtures and also generate synergies with international industry-leading individuals and organisations. 

Taking part in presentations 

On Tuesday 23 April, Xavier Roselló, sales coordinator for Calcel, gave a presentation on its cold-applied water-activated asphalt mix. Meanwhile, Mar Subarroca, head of Sorigué’s research laboratory, contributed to the talk by engineer Ricardo Bardasano on the evaluation of the structural performance of emulsion-based cold recycling illustrated by two case studies. 

On Thursday 25 April, Núria Querol, a research laboratory technician, presented one of Sorigué’s most significant projects: improving the road surface on the Alforja-La Selva road, as this is the first project to be carried out under the public procurement model for innovation in Catalonia. On the same day, Núria Querol also spoke about a study on the effect of rejuvenating emulsions in emulsion-based cold recycling mixtures. 

At its 22nd edition, CILA brought together more than a thousand attendees from around twenty countries to discuss the most innovative breakthroughs in road construction.  

Over 250 technical papers were presented and each day featured seven speakers who outlined the latest advances in asphalt, including harnessing big data technology and sustainable soil construction. 

Leading industry organisations at the congress included the Spanish Road Association, Asefma, Eiffage Construcción, OptimaSoil, Sedinfra, Itafec, ATEB, Corinsa, Eurovia, Iterchimica and Ravago Chemicals. 

Sustainability in asphalt 

At the congress, Regional Minister Rocío Díaz spoke about the need to develop more sustainable mixes to tackle the effects of climate change. 

She picked out Andalusia’s use of Sustainable, Automated and Smart Asphalt Materials, known as Masai, to asphalt roads owned by the regional government. Sorigué applied this material to Granada’s streets in 2023, conducting the first project to use Masai as a wearing course on urban roads.