If you listen carefully, cycling along a CCL road sounds different to what you expect to hear on an asphalt bike path. Compared to an asphalt bike path, one made using CCL elements produces a slightly hollow sound. This has to do with the cavity under the surface, which is used for a number of functions, including rainwater storage. So far, none of the users in PlasticRoad’s trial projects indicated that they found this sound unpleasant. Likewise, we did not register any noise nuisance in our internal trial project in Utrecht, which was used every day by cars driving at a maximum speed of 30km/h. Based on these results, we can conclude that the sound produced by light traffic on a CCL road falls well below nuisance levels.

The applications that we will initially be focussing on all fall within this ‘light use’ category – meaning we do not expect them to lead to noise nuisance. In fact, PlasticRoad presents new opportunities: today’s asphalt technology is edging closer and closer to optimal structures for minimised sound. The CCL programme offers ample room for experimenting with optimised sound reduction through the application of extruded, printed or moulded structures. Noise/vibrations could potentially also be used to generate energy. Assuming that our CCL series will ultimately expand to include motorway applications, minimising noise nuisance will be an important spearhead in our research and production activities.