Hull based highways technology company Asphalt-IQ Ltd have chosen the LCRIG Innovation Festival to launch their new digital “Smart A- Tag” system which allows the road to “Speak for Itself”.
The tags, which are designed to be embedded into the asphalt prior to compaction allow all asphalt production and surfacing data, including the carbon footprint of the works, to be uploaded and stored directly into the road. This information can be accessed through the lifecycle of the pavement with a simple “tap” of a smartphone.
Gary Cook, Managing Director of Asphalt-IQ, said: “We recognised that the road surfacing industry required a practical, user friendly, carbon calculator which can enable the asphalt contractor to immediately generate the carbon footprint of the day’s production at the roadside.”
When used in conjunction with the “Smart A-Tag” the Offset-IQ Smartphone App enables the user to calculate the carbon footprint of the surfacing works in less than 60 seconds and offers the chance for the emissions to be neutralised through independently verified UK based carbon mitigation projects.
“Our industry has already started the journey towards “Net Zero” through initiatives such as warm mix asphalt and the increased use of Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in mixes but in order for us to demonstrate continual improvement we must start to record our data,” adds Cook. “The Smart A-Tags provide that solution whilst the “Offset-IQ” app offers the possibility of carbon neutral surfacing today.”
RoadVault – A Digital Archive Embedded in the Road
As the surfacing industry moves towards a future of automated quality control and performance testing it has never been more important to be able to store this data in an easily accessible format. The RoadVault app enables the surfacing supervisor to record and upload any site records or information to the “Smart A-Tag” through his own phone. The tag ensures that the data is geolocated and can be accessed years later from a desktop in the office or directly from the tag in the road.
“Imagine being able to walk up to a patch of surfacing and be able to tap the tag and access the full history of the asphalt…well with RoadVault you can” said Cook.
Asphalt-IQ believe that the introduction of Smart A-Tags, used in conjunction with the Offset-IQ and RoadVault-IQ smartphone apps can radically change the way asphalt surfacing data is recorded and accessed, bringing the concept of “Digital Roads” to life.
Asphalt-IQ has developed a carbon emissions calculating tool for the asphalt industry which is embedded in a smartphone App called “Offset”. This App, when used in conjunction with a “Smart A-Tag” will enable the asphalt contractor to immediately calculate the carbon footprint of the days production and immediately generate, at the roadside, a carbon offset for the emissions created. All offset data including the GPS location of the tag will be held on Asphalt-IQ’s secure server and will be available for the asphalt contractor to access at the push of a button.