Waste and Circular Economy Innovation

Asphalt is used in many of the transportation and transit projects that we build. In 2019, Aecon established a permanent asphalt plant just north of Calgary, Alberta at a site that is within an industrial park that includes an innovative storm water management system. Storm water discharged from Aecon’s site is drained into an area that includes natural wetlands. It is then treated and returned to industrial users, including our plant, where it is used in warm mix asphalt and for irrigation and dust control. This is a good example of a nature-based solution being used to lower costs and minimize effluent.

The plant also reduces energy consumption and lowers emissions by using clean-burning natural gas and line power versus utilizing burner fuel and diesel powered generators.

Warm mix asphalt technology facilitates production and placement of asphalt mix at lower temperatures than conventional hot mix. The equipment is also designed to control emissions by capturing dust and smoke at mix transfer points and redirecting back to the burner to be incinerated.

Recycled asphalt pavement that is collected from asphalt breakouts and millings during road reconstruction typically goes to landfill. Aecon is recycling old asphalt and processing it to be reused in the production of hot mix. As a result, we are reducing reliance on virgin bitumen oil produced from oil refineries and virgin aggregate from sand and gravel pits.

A depot on the site accepts breakout concrete and asphalt demolition rubble, which is processed for reuse and resale into road base, reducing the need for aggregates from non-renewable gravel pits.