33 UUMA-inventory. A study for the development of product acceptance and usage control of alternative materials in soil construction
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Photo: Ramboll Finland Oy
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Background
The Ministry of Environment in Finland commissioned in 2005 a study on the New Technology of Infrastructure Construction, UUMA, concerning the potential and development needs for the use of alternative materials in infrastructure construction. The results have been published at the end of 2005 as a review of the state-of-the-art and a development programme or UUMA-programme. The stated objective of the UUMA-programme declares that; a major part of appropriate UUMA-materials will be beneficially reused in those infrastructure construction projects where the reuse is an environmentally, economically and technically feasible alternative. This should reduce the use of natural, non-renewable resources only in projects with no other choice. The purpose of the UUMA-development programme is to contribute to the use of alternative UUMA-materials in infrastructure construction with help of the development of UUMA-products, project delivery and product acceptance methodology, and markets.
UUMA-materials involve different types of alternative materials which nowadays are mainly deposited in landfills or used for secondary purposes like fills. However, a large share of those materials could be improved and commercialised as construction materials to substitute for natural resources where appropriate.
UUMA-materials have been grouped into industrial by-products (like ashes, sludge, slag, gypsum), demolition waste and other materials of existing earth structures, different types of surplus soil materials from construction projects (including dredged mud), and contaminated soil. The essential preconditions for beneficial reuse of these materials include proven environmental, economical and technical feasibility and accurate information about their availability for existing construction projects. Objectives
The project (UUMA-inventory) aims at
- Mapping out the soil construction structures based on the use of alternative UUMA-materials and collecting available information and data of these structures. Some appropriate structures will be chosen for further environmental and geotechnical follow-up research in order to obtain additional long-term information and data.
- Mapping out sources of the different types of UUMA-materials at each region (road region/province) of Finland. The collected data will include information of quantities, current reuse/plans for reuse and materials properties.
- Testing of the relevance and quality of the obtained / available information and data of structures and materials with respect to the life-cycle (LCA, LCC) and eco-efficiency perspectives.
The project will help in promoting the usage of UUMA-materials with the availability information / databank at different regions of Finland, now and in the future. The project will also contribute to the development of UUMA-products and their acceptance with the provision of additional information and data about the environmental safety, long-term behaviour, and cost- and eco-efficiency of the UUMA-materials and -structures. Duration
Project period: June 2006 - May 2008 Organisation
The project will be mainly carried out by the personnel of Ramboll Finland Oy, but in co-operation with developers, industry, materials producers and manufactures, contractors, municipalities, environmental centres and researchers. The project will closely co-operate with other UUMA-projects, and the INFRA 2010 project with pilot constructions.
The Steering group of the project involves representatives from the Ministry of Environment, Road Administration, Tekes (National Technology Agency), Finnish Environment Institute, Skanska Asphalt Oy, Lohja Rudus Oy Ab, Helsinki Energy, Outokumpu Steel Oy and Ramboll Finland Oy. Events and publications
More information about the UUMA-programme and the cluster of projects are available at the web-pages: Infrarakentamisen uusi materiaaliteknologia - UUMA
The project publications will be available at the web-pages after the project has been finished, in the summer 2008.
The project and its results will be presented at conferences / workshops arranged by the Environmental cluster research programme and/or UUMA-programme during the project period 2006-2008. Contacts
Pentti Lahtinen, project leader, tel.+358 20 755 6746, forename.surename@ramboll.fi
Aino Maijala, main research scientist, tel. +358 20 755 6747,
forename.surename@ramboll.fi
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