About one million square metres of the ACT road network will be resurfaced this year, some with recycled product Plastiphalt. 

Minister for Roads, Chris Steel, announced the start of the ACT Government’s annual resurfacing program, which will start in 2018 in Tuggeranong suburbs on municipal streets.

“The 2018-19 $16 million resurfacing program will see approximately 230 lane kilometres, or approximately 1,000,000 square metres of roads resurfaced, across the ACT road network. This is about the same size as 140 football fields. The majority of this work will be the road resealing, which comprises 900,000 square metres,” Steel says. 

“One exciting innovation this year is the trial of Plastiphalt. This material, composed of recycled glass and soft plastics, will be trialled on existing sections of Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Drive during this year’s resurfacing program. For every tonne of Plastiphalt placed, the equivalent of 800 plastic bags, 252 glass bottles and 18 used printer toner cartridges will not find their way to landfills. About 300 kilograms of recycled asphalt is also used for every tonne of Plastiphalt.

“The resealing program is an important part of the maintenance of Canberra’s roads as it covers small cracks and imperfections which could cause potholes and overall deterioration. It protects and extends the life of our roads and improves road safety."