In short, Silica Greenstone, also known as SiGS, is a by-product of the production of silico-manganese which is used in steel. SiGS is climate neutral and can potentially contribute to more sustainable road construction by replacing natural stone. Nye Veier has received dispensation to use SiGS in the E39 motorway project through Lyngdal. It is currently not allowed to use anything other than stone to make the road body on new public roads and streets, but the Ministry of Transport has revealed that a rule change is coming. Through a sustainable project, Nye Veier, Sintef and several other actors will test out new sustainable materials and solutions for road construction. Eramet Norway Kvinesdal produces 220,000 tonnes of SiGS annually and also has approximately 1.5 years’ worth of production in stock that can be used. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – With this we can spare nature, says Anita Enebakk. She is the project manager for the new E39 through Lyngdal. Usually, mountains and rocks are used to obtain stone as a reinforcement base when building new roads. There may now be less of that. New roads project manager Anita Enebakk believes this is just the start of a more sustainable way of building roads. Photo: Tom Nicolai Kolstad / news The motorway project in the south has been given a dispensation to use Silica Greenstone, so-called sigs, instead of ordinary stone. These days, the first lorry loads with the green alternative are dumped on the route. Climate-neutral stone Silica Greenstone is a residual product from silico-manganese which is used in steel production. The stone is green and hard. – You can compare him to a rock that is not 200 million years old, but perhaps only 14 days old, explains Leif Hunsbedt. He is a senior engineer at Eramet who will deliver the stone. The green color of silica greenstone comes from the manganese content. Photo: Tom Nicolai Kolstad / news Eramet Norway in Kvinesdal produces 220,000 tonnes of sigs annually. In addition, they have approximately 1.5 years of production in stock that can be used. Sigs is considered climate neutral because all the CO2 footprint from the plant in Kvinesdal is linked to the production of the main product, silicon manganese. What is Silica Greenstone (SiGS)? Photo: Eramet SiGS is a residual product in steel production. He is shiny, hard and green. It is comparable to natural volcanic rocks, but the difference is that SiGS is completely newly formed, while volcanic rocks are several million years old. SiGS does not contain organic pollutants. Harmful heavy metal values are below the background values we find in nature. No elevated values of radioactive substances have been detected in SiGS. It has the ability to resist degradation and has a long shelf life. SiGS is carbon neutral compared to stone from the crushed stone industry. (SOURCE: Eramet) Changing the rules Today, it is only permitted to use stone to create the body of the road on new public roads and streets. But the Norwegian Road Administration has proposed to open up the use of other types when new road standards were sent out for consultation earlier this year. Now the Ministry of Transport reveals that they will change the rules: – Now there will be an updated road standard during the summer. There it will be open for this type of product, says State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications Tom Kalsås (Ap). Tom Kalsås, state secretary in the Ministry of Transport, says that they are changing the regulations this summer, so that Sigs can be used in road production in the future. Photo: Tom Nicolai Kolstad / news Will test several new solutions Through the project “Sustainable value chain and material use in road construction”, Nye vegar, Sintef and a large number of other actors will test new sustainable materials and solutions for road construction. Within three years, at least ten new solutions must be tested. The project will carry out pilots both in the road construction, in tunnels and in constructions along the road. The “green gold” If sigs is used in new road projects in the future, what was initially a residual product could become a good store for the cornerstone company in Kvinesdal. – We cannot say anything more precise about this with pure numbers, but there is definitely potential here, says senior adviser Leif Hunsbedt at Eramet. At the bottom left of the picture you can see the “mountain” of Silica Greenstone that Eramet in Kvinesdal has stored. About 300,000 tonnes, the company says. Photo: Eramet Bedrifta at Fedafjord also works with other areas of use for sigs. – If the material is ground down to powder, it can replace part of the cement in concrete or it can be used as a soil improver, Hunsbedt says. Published 22.06.2024, at 13.37
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Sigs can revolutionize Norwegian road construction – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
