Milestone Infrastructure, a part of M Group Services, hosted its Devon-based Innovation Day as part of its ongoing work to make highways more sustainable.
Taking place at Exeter Racecourse, the Innovation Day was attended by representatives from Milestone, Devon County Council, National Highways and supply chain partners. The event was in connection with Milestone and Devon County Council’s Live Labs project, presenting options and ideas for use in their ambitious project to make the A382 a carbon negative highway. The event showcased supply chain solutions, with talks taking place throughout the day.
Celebrating innovation and sustainability, attendees were encouraged to adopt an environmentally considerate mindset, by thinking about how to challenge traditional means of building and maintaining highways.
The informative event included a talk from Aimee Higgins and Sonia Lakshman, the founders of Couch to Carbon Zero, on how individuals can slash their personal carbon footprint in 10 days, alongside presentations focusing on how traffic management, road markings and the laying of surfacing materials can be more sustainable.
Milestone and Devon County Council’s ambitious plan to make the A382 a carbon negative highway, which received funding from the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport’s (ADEPT) Live Labs programme, aims to show that carbon negative highways are possible without the need for offsetting – providing a ‘live laboratory’ opportunity to promote change in the design, construction and maintenance of roads. The project aims to be carbon negative in terms of both construction and maintenance.
Speaking on the importance of the Innovation Day, Phil Ramsden, Regional Director at Milestone, said: “The Innovation Day presented us with options and ideas for our upcoming A382 project. In partnership with our client, Devon County Council, we received funding from ADEPT’s Live Labs to make our A382 project carbon negative. This is an industry first, an experiment focused on pushing boundaries, challenging traditional methods of working and making a difference.”
As a business, Milestone is committed to reaching net-zero across its operations by 2040. Innovation events, such as this, offer an opportunity to consider how to achieve this target.
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