A Swansea business is recycling thousands of tons of Kingsway road surface for new use in the city’s regeneration.
Family-owned Stenor West has six trucks taking concrete slabs from the city centre route to its Fforestfach base.
There, it is broken down into hardcore, some of which may form foundations for the Kingsway’s new pedestrian footways being laid this year as part of Swansea Council’s £12m scheme to make the route significantly more people-friendly.
Council leader Rob Stewart said: “The Kingsway and Orchard Street will soon be a fabulous green artery for the city, with an urban park replacing two of the existing traffic lanes.
“It will be green and attractive, perfect for people to spend their leisure time with friends, family and workmates.
“The transformation is part of our broader plan to get many more people living in the city centre, working here, visiting and staying.
“The £1.3bn City Deal has strengthened private sector confidence.
“Our commitment to a green future is also shown by the fact that we’re planting 170 new trees as part of the Kingsway scheme – this will double the number of trees in that immediate area to around 220.”
Construction work to transform The Kingsway and its neighbouring streets began in April, with Swansea business Dawnus the main contractor. By the end of next year it will have new public spaces, landscaped parkland, enhanced cycle provision, a two-way single lane vehicle route and wider pedestrian walkways.
Stenor West began taking the concrete road surface in April and expect to work on the scheme for around another year.
Their recycling processes – on the site of Fforestfach’s former Swansea Greyhound Stadium – are being informed by the expertise of built environment specialists from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD).
Stenor West managing director Steve Norman said: “We’re thrilled to be working on a high-profile scheme that will help regenerate our home city.
“It’s right that The Kingsway’s old surface is re-used locally to help make the scheme as environmentally-friendly as possible.
“We have up to ten personnel working on this contract at any one time, including truck drivers and heavy plant operators.
“We take huge slabs from Dawnus on The Kingsway and Orchard Street then operate our mechanical crushers to make material suitable for re-use as foundations being laid in places such as The Kingsway and Swansea University’s Bay Campus.
“We’re grateful to our partners in UWTSD who have worked alongside us to ensure that our procedures comply with all the latest recycling guidelines.”
Stenor West is a sponsor of Swansea Council’s annual High 5 Awards which showcase inspirational children and young people from around the city.
UWTSD’s Lindsay Richards, head of the School of Architecture, Built and Natural Environments, said: “The UWTSD School of Architecture, Built and Natural Environments is collaborating with Stenor on a couple of exciting projects in Swansea.
“We are delighted to be part of these construction industry-based projects, including the upcycling of innovative construction products from waste.
“This type of innovative practice enriches our learning, teaching and student experience.
“Additionally, this collaboration includes PhD studies supervised by Dr Juan Ferriz-Papi who has expertise within international construction industry research projects.”
Dawnus project manager Tom Morris said: “Dawnus always looks to provide opportunities for our local supply chain and are happy that we can work in partnership with the council and Stenor West to deliver environmental and economic benefits.”
