Recycled glass mixed with asphalt may be solution to pothole woes
Montreal technical school to study mixing two materials to increase road longevity
École de technologie supérieure has launched a study that will look at using the recycled glass in asphalt in order to reinforce the province's roads.
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The Montreal technical school has received $450,000 in funding from the City of Montreal, Éco Entreprises Québec and other organizations for the study.
"Crushed glass may be the best insulating material to prevent frost from cracking asphalt," said Michel Vaillancourt, one of the researchers and a professor at ÉTS.
The study will benefit more than the roads though.
Currently, much of the glass left with curbside recycling ends up in landfills. A Longueuil facility that prepared about 70 per cent of Quebec's glass for recycling shut its doors in 2013.
Researchers plan to use more than 100,000 tonnes of recycled glass in their study, half of all the recycled glass recuperated annually in Quebec.
The study is expected to continue until 2018.