Roadways has been shortlisted for the CIHT Sustainability Award 2026, following its recent win at the edie Awards for Product Innovation of the Year.

The shortlisting recognises the delivery of Cold bitumen emulsion based asphalt on the A26 Beddingham and A259 Winchelsea schemes, delivered in collaboration with National Highways, WSP, Jacobs, Nynas and Surrey Highway Laboratories.

Delivering sustainability through existing standards

The schemes demonstrate how the operative Specification for Highway Works can be applied more effectively to deliver measurable sustainability outcomes, while maintaining full compliance, design intent and accountability.

On both schemes, the scope was planing and resurfacing to binder course level, with cold bitumen emulsion based asphalt used as a direct replacement for traditional AC20 binder.

- 1,300 tonnes delivered on the Strategic Road Network

- 40% lower embodied carbon (materials comparison)

- Zero virgin aggregate used

- Reduced vehicle movements through local production and circular material use

- No temperature dependency during production or delivery

The material uses 100% reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) within a controlled bitumen emulsion system, supporting a circular construction model aligned with current sustainability requirements.

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Innovation through application — not specification change

This project reflects a specific type of innovation:

applying existing standards more intelligently, rather than introducing new or untested solutions.

The solution was delivered as a like-for-like replacement within the existing specification, demonstrating that:

- lower-carbon construction can be achieved without changing standards

- delivery risk can be reduced without introducing technical uncertainty

- sustainability can be delivered as a controlled construction outcome

Importantly, this was not a trial or departure.

It was delivered on the Strategic Road Network under full governance, confirming that this approach is repeatable, scalable and safe to use.

While the A259 and A26 schemes focused on binder replacement, the same approach can also be applied to AC32 base layers, where scheme scope allows.

Industry recognition reflects a shift in delivery

The CIHT shortlisting, alongside the edie Award win, reflects growing recognition across the sector that:

- sustainability must be delivered within existing contracts and standards

- carbon reduction must align with cost and programme certainty

- innovation in highways is increasingly about better delivery, not new specifications

The full list of 2026 CIHT Awards finalists can be viewed here. Winners will be announced at the CIHT Awards ceremony on 15th June at The London Hilton Bankside hotel.

Karin Jones, Chief Engineer and PMO at Roadways, said: "On the A259 and A26, we demonstrated that cold bitumen emulsion asphalt can be delivered as a fully standards-compliant, like-for-like replacement for binder layers on the Strategic Road Network.

"There was no change to design, no departure from specification and no loss of performance — but a clear reduction in delivery risk, cost exposure and carbon.

"This is innovation through application — using existing standards more effectively to deliver better outcomes."