Brussels Mobility and COPRO, a beautiful tandem to ensure better quality asphalt on the roads in Brussels
The Brussels-Capital Region attaches great importance to the quality of its infrastructure projects, and has therefore decided to subject products for its sites to increased production control. In this context, an agreement was concluded with COPRO at the end of 2018. Our certification body has been acting as an independent third party for more than 35 years and is responsible for monitoring producers placing road products on the public market under both the COPRO and BENOR certificates.
Objective
The aim of the agreement is to increase the quality of the asphalt mixtures used in order to frame and limit the causes of the damage. With the agreement, the BHG instructs us to carry out inspections as part of the so-called increased production control. These inspections are carried out at the production unit of the producer of the asphalt mixtures. If the producer already has a COPRO certificate, the inspections are carried out in addition to the standard inspections within the framework of the COPRO certification.
The checks carried out by our inspectors during the inspections give the BCR the assurance that the asphalt mixture has been produced in accordance with the applicable technical data sheet. The inspection of the placement of the asphalt on the site is carried out by the Brussels-Capital Region. In this way, the checks carried out by COPRO and the client are perfectly in line with each other.
Procedure
The BHG decides per yard whether it is necessary for COPRO to carry out inspections. They give us the instructions to do so by sending us the technical data sheets of the asphalt mixtures that will be placed on the site in question. Before the start of the inspections, our inspector will verify whether the proposed asphalt mixtures meet the requirements of the Type Cutlery 2015 and report to the BHG. If required and on behalf of the BHG, our inspector can also attend the asphalt producer's tests carried out as part of the type testing for an asphalt mixture that he wishes to have certified in accordance with the Type Specifications 2015.
During the inspections themselves, COPRO will monitor the conformity with the technical data sheet of the asphalt mixtures delivered to the site concerned. Our inspector will check if the technical data sheet of these mixtures corresponds to those previously received from the BCR. We draw up a report of the findings and report on them to the BCR.
Future
The collaboration between COPRO and the BHG started at the beginning of 2019 and will continue during 2020. In 2019, about twenty inspections were carried out for seventeen different sites. At the beginning of 2020, however, the BHG sites could also not escape from the Corona crisis and the associated measures. In the meantime, however, these works have restarted and COPRO will be able to continue the inspections on a large number of them. COPRO will thus assist the BCR with its expertise, hoping that the close cooperation will result in roads on the Brussels road network with a longer lifespan and increased quality.
We sincerely hope that road users will be able to experience this for themselves.
Brussels Mobility about our cooperation
Brussels Mobility manages the capital's regional road network and renovates around 120,000 to 160,000 m² of top layers of bituminous mixtures every year. This amounts to 9,000 to 12,000 tonnes of asphalt per year. Brussels Mobility does not have its own materials analysis laboratory, which is why they call on COPRO to have the road products used checked and certified.
We manage a road heritage located in a densely populated urban area with the associated problems of traffic congestion, so we have to ensure the high quality of the works carried out. In this way, we avoid building sites being open for too long, or even having to be reopened after the works have been completed!
The inspections are carried out in the production unit on the very day of the works. After COPRO has checked the production of the construction site, we can decide on the quality of the aggregates and the mixture on the basis of an analysis of the production process.
The intervention of COPRO enables us to check the conformity of the production process with the requirements of the Standard Specifications 2015 or with the requirements of another Belgian region or community. A detailed report is sent to the administration on the production conditions and the points for attention and improvement for future productions. The report also includes comments on temperatures, delivery documents, suitability of trucks, raw materials in stock, ...
This first year of cooperation gives very satisfactory results, with a better control of the product quality. This collaboration will soon be extended to a "Procedure for the registration of asphalt mixtures", which will ensure a clear specification of the roles of the different actors: producer, contractor, COPRO, possible external laboratories and building owners.
Contact our inspector Koen Van Daele for more information.
Click here for more information about our service "Enhanced production control"
This article can be consulted at the trade journal Grond Weg Waterbouw / Construire La Wallonie which will come out end of june. Here are already the articles on their website:
