News Projects Roads & Paving
Durham Region wins Project of the Year Award for road rehabilitation project

WHITBY, Ont. – Durham Region’s use of sustainable materials in road building is being recognized.

The region was awarded the Ontario Public Works (OPWA) Project of the Year Award in the category of transportation under $2 million for a rehabilitation project that made use of recycled materials on a 3.6 kilometre stretch of Newtonville Road.

Located in the Municipality of Clarington, the Newtonville Road rehabilitation project used 400 tonnes of recycled glass, six tonnes of recycled plastics, and 4.5 tonnes of reprocessed plastic fibres, all processed from blue box collections in the Regional Road program, to reduce the volume of aggregate materials typically used in road construction processes.

The project was completed in two phases. The first phase was completed in fall 2021 and made use of conventional road rehabilitation methods and materials. The second phase used recycled materials and reached completion in fall 2022. This was a pilot project with the aim of using less roadbuilding aggregates while possibly increasing the overall strength, durability, and pavement life cycle of the roadway.

The project was the first of its kind undertaken by Durham Region and was based on findings from over 100 pavement trial sections across Canada over a 60-year period.