Research project on artificial intelligence for sustainable road construction launched

Road construction causes around 400 million tonnes of CO2 emissions globally every year. This corresponds to about 7.5 per cent of the maximum annual amount that may be emitted worldwide in order to still achieve the climate target of 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming. Even on medium-sized construction sites with 2,500 tonnes of asphalt to be laid, about 4,000 trees need a whole year to compensate for the CO2 emissions of about 50 tonnes. In the KInaStra research project, CO2 emissions in asphalt road construction are to be analysed transparently using digital technologies and reduced by AI-based optimisation algorithms, without any negative impact on quality, costs and time.

The project results should help construction companies to carry out road construction projects more sustainably through CO2-optimised planning and process control. KInaStra thus creates the prerequisites for efficiently meeting the sustainability requirements of the coming years, including those of public clients. At the same time, the project strengthens economic sustainability as resources become scarcer and more expensive.

The goal of the project team from practice and science is the development of intelligent, data-driven real-time control procedures by means of machine learning. The results will be digital tools for CO2 reporting and decision support. Sensors and interfaces will be used to collect data across the entire asphalt supply chain. In the cloud, this data will then be analysed in real time using AI processes. This will make it possible to derive recommendations for action for the personnel carrying out the construction work.

Project participants

Smart Site Solutions GmbH is launching the research project together with Reif Bauunternehmung GmbH & Co. KG, Makadamlabor Schwaben GmbH and the University of Hohenheim. Cyber Valley supports the KInaStra project consortium as an associated partner. Other associated partners are Bauwirtschaft Baden-Württemberg e.V., Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen, Deutscher Asphaltverband e.V. and infraTest Digital Solutions GmbH. The KInaStra project is part of the innovation funding programme "InvestBw - Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence" and is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics, Labour and Tourism on the basis of a decision by the Baden-Württemberg state government.

Contact

Dr. Marcus Müller
Smart Site Solutions GmbH, Zugäckerstrasse 42, 72622 Nürtingen
+49 (0) 7022 2081847
marcus.mueller@smartsitesolutions.de