Pakenham Roads Upgrade Project

Pakenham Roads Upgrade coffee concrete

Major Road Projects Victoria worked with RMIT University and project contractor BildGroup to lay the first-ever section of coffee biochar concrete on the project late last year. For this project alone, 5 tonnes of spent coffee grounds – approximately 140,000 coffees worth of grounds – was converted into 2 tonnes of useable biochar, which has been laid into the 30 cubic metres of concrete used in the footpath in Pakenham.

Organic waste in landfill, including spent coffee grounds, contributes 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. To overcome this challenge, the RMIT research team developed a technique to convert spent coffee grounds into a coffee biochar made 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 per cent, and reduce the amount of fine aggregate sand needed in a concrete mix. This innovation has the potential to result in a more ecological friendly and economical alternative to traditional concrete mixes.

The Pakenham Roads Upgrade has completed major works on Stage 1 of the project, delivering new ramps and lanes on the Princes Freeway and a new bridge on Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road over the freeway. Works on Stage 2 of the project to widen the McGregor Road citybound freeway entry ramp will be completed in March.

For more information on the project award, please click here).

For more information on Pakenham project, please click (here).

(Source: website of Pakenham Roads Upgrade coffee concrete wins major award - Victoria’s Big Build)