Swiss-based cement maker LafargeHolcim has teamed with the services arm of IBM to create a digital platform aimed at improving the design of roads.
LafargeHolcim says the ORIS tool can reduce project costs by as much as a third, and carbon emissions by a half, as well as tripling the service life of the road.
Roads vary depending on location, climate, vehicle types and traffic volumes, so there are many potential choices of building materials and technologies. ORIS assesses the most efficient construction and maintenance patterns, given the availability and capability of local materials.
Marcel Cobuz, LafargeHolcim’s head of Europe, said the company had already entered into pilot projects with road authorities, international financing institutions and engineering firms around the world.
Hervé Rolland, IBM’s vice president of industrial solutions, said: "Data-driven solutions and digital technologies have the potential to transform road construction towards more sustainable, circular, low-carbon, low-resource and cost-efficient techniques.
"ORIS is instrumental in recommending appropriate and tailored approaches to road-building, thus minimising costs, environmental impacts and project delays."
Image: Road Construction (Wabeno/Dreamstime)
