The City of Canning has become the first council in Western Australia to trial the use of root cell technology under a busy road, in the council hopes will solve the issue of tree root damage to roads.

The pilot project, delivered in partnership with Citygreen, is being trialled on Lynwood Avenue, Lynwood. The project has involved planting median trees into root cells, some of which are installed directly under the roadway, to allow a greater soil area for optimum root growth without compromising or damaging the structural integrity of the roadway.

The structural cells are made from 100% recycled plastic and are the strongest available on the market, making them suitable for trafficable areas. The cells are low maintenance and provide much greater soil volume than standard width medians, which will enable the trees to grow better.

The project involves three types of structural root-cells which will be monitored for five years; Stratavault45, Stratavault30 and Stratacell. The products differ in material composition and configuration. The Stratavault30 cells were placed within the median whilst the Stratavault45 and Stratavault30 are laid under the carriageway.  Monitoring will include periodic strength and deflection tests to measure how well they support the carriageway.

At the end of the monitoring period, the data collected will be evaluated to determine which of the three root cell methods is the most effective.

City of Canning Mayor, Paul Ng, said that the initiative directly links back to an aspiration in the Strategic Community Plan to provide safe, well-designed and maintained roads in the City, which will ultimately create large healthy trees and reduce the cost of road maintenance and resurfacing.

“The project allows the City to capitalise on a number of strategies we are strongly committed to, such as increasing the tree canopy and reducing the annual costs of road maintenance, so we are really pleased to be the first council piloting this project,” Ng said.