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In this month’s blog Alexis Magne, Innovation Project Manager for the Liverpool Live Labs 2 project, provides an update. A unique member of the project, Alexis spends half of his time working at Liverpool City Council and half on the Colas Ltd Innovation Management Team working across the Live Lab.

At almost the halfway point for the Live Labs 2 projects, it is incredible to take stock and reflect on the journey we've undertaken so far. In Liverpool this year the project has been marked by many exciting breakthroughs and some significant challenges.

A dynamic first year

Initially, connecting all of our project partners and establishing the essential methodologies to underpin our initiative, was our first challenge. Once this was complete, we were able to move on to creating an ‘innovation funnel’ to gather ideas and research. 

We were also able to develop a ‘comprehensive innovation matrix’ which takes into account several area such as, the carbon and environmental impact, the operational performance and resilience, the cost-effectiveness, the feasibility and the complexity, the scalability and adaptability, the regulatory and compliance, and finally the social impact of the solution. This innovation matrix has been validated by industry experts, to guide our decision making process. 

An important part of our early efforts was dedicated to carbon baselining and  analysing past schemes undertaken by  contractors who work across various Liverpool City Council programs including Tarmac, Huyton AC, and Dowhigh. 

Gathering this crucial information paved the way to measuring our project’s impact and also ensured that our strategies are rooted in empirical data.

All of the steps we’ve taken and will continue to take over the course of Live Labs 2, will  feed into the goal of future sustainable road planning. 

Innovation funnel and optioneering

Our innovation funnel is a comprehensive framework, designed to ensure that we effectively identify, evaluate and implement innovative solutions for roadways within the Liverpool Live Lab 2 project. 

It begins with the first stage: ‘identify’, where we define the purpose and goals of each scheme, pinpoint specific innovations suited for roads and determine the desired outcomes and impacts. 

Following this, we move into the research phase, where we explore the innovation library led by Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads, sifting through viable innovations relevant to service activities, conducting stakeholder previews and a pre-evaluation of innovations to inform our scoring process. 

The final stage is scoring, where we gather input from our expert panel in a workshop setting, refine the scores based on their feedback and arrive at a final selection. This structured approach creates informed decision making and ensures that our initiatives are aligned with our sustainability goals and are grounded in expert insights.

The expert panel is a crucial component of our innovation funnel, composed of nine members with diverse expertise within the highways sector such as plant and equipment, street lighting, active travel, materials, and sustainability. The aim of this group is to thoroughly evaluate the suitability and potential impacts of the shortlisted innovations.

Our expert group provides specialised knowledge and skills related to materials, ensuring that we meet the ambitious goals we have set for our project. Each solution could significantly lower carbon emissions during both the construction and maintenance of highways in the Liverpool context.

To ensure our research is credible and reliable, and that we meet our carbon reduction objectives, i.e. net zero by 2030, academic institutions and industry bodies are contributing to validate the carbon models generated by the ‘Carbon Analyser’ a carbon tool developed by FHRG to verify and, ensure that our efforts are robust, and evidence based

The Pell Frischmann optioneering tool is currently in development, and will be a key milestone of the project. When complete, it will be a comprehensive resource to enhance decision making. The main aim of this tool is to evaluate how much carbon is used in every step of a product’s lifecycle, from planning to implementation and maintenance, including product end-of-life. By integrating these considerations right from the start, we can ensure our  solutions are not only effective, but also aligned with  sustainability objectives.

Exciting next steps

Now that all the groundwork is in place, we are excited to move forwards: this has included going on-site with demonstrators and continuing our discussions with the Liverpool City Council Highways Team.

We have pinpointed key areas where our involvement could make a meaningful impact. Our main objective is to trialand deliver innovative resurfacing solutions, carefully considering all the options that have passed through our innovation funnel and received high ratings from our expert panel. 

This approach will address both immediate needs and also align with our broader goal of creating sustainable, low carbon roadways. 

Current research includes looking at diversification into new technologies related to active travel, safety, and drainage, such as Wattway an innovative solar road solution that provides clean, renewable energy in the form of electricity, while allowing for all types of road traffic, Flowell an interactive and dynamic light-emitting road marking system that boosts the awareness of both drivers and pedestrians alike, and Kiacrete a permeable solution that prevent urban flooding, because we know that diversity will enable us to make meaningful comparisons and provide valuable insights, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the project.

We look forward to sharing more updates soon.

Further information

• For more information on ADEPT Live Labs 2: Decarbonising Local Roads in the UK, please look at the Live Labs 2 section of the website
• For more information about the Live Labs Project, please visit https://decarbonisingroads.co.uk/

Author

• Alexis Magne, Liverpool Live Labs 2 Innovation Project Manager, Colas.