Objectives

The DIRECT-MAT project objectives consist of sharing and disseminating, at a European scale, national knowledge and field practices regarding the dismantling and recycling of road and road-related materials for the purpose of maintaining existing roads and building new roads. In this aim, a Web database is created to compile and display the extensive existing and already validated research and jobsite data; a set of Best Practice guides on the dismantling and recycling of different types of materials will be issued from the benchmarking of national practices; guidelines will also be proposed to ensure ongoing database updating and enrichment.

Expected results
The DIRECT-MAT Web database will provide on-line access to: validated guidelines, national document references, harmonised literature reviews and practical application case studies based on jobsite data sets.

Dissemination
Special care will be taken to reach end users at the national level and  generate closer cooperation between research and practice. This is to be achieved through:

• Cooperation with a stakeholders panel consisting of potential end users in several countries;
• Articles in national journals;
• Presentations at national seminars and
• Arrangement of a European workshop for end users in 2011.

 Potential end users

• Road authorities
• Regulators and specifiers
• Standardisation bodies
• Highway designers
• Road engineers
• Contractors
• Material suppliers
• Road researchers

Benefits
DIRECT-MAT will:

• Assist CEN technical committees in incorporating scientifically-based material requirements on recycled road materials into European standards,
• Increase the confidence of stakeholders and practitioners in the use of recycled road products,
• Set up a shared view of road material research needs to improve the coordination of national research programmes at the European level and provide researchers with a tool for testing and improving models.