About CIHT CIHT Governance President's Blog Diversity & Inclusion CIHT Foundation

Beyond the Awards with Viktorija Vasiliauskaite Bailey, Director, Roadways (Hailsham Roadway Construction)

Beyond the Awards: Lessons from the Shortlist distils sharp, real-world insight from projects recognised in the CIHT Awards 2026. We ask shortlisted entrants four focused questions on legacy, skills, key learning, and future trends to discover what’s working now and what’s coming next. It’s essential reading for sector professionals looking to benchmark their work, apply lessons learnt now and stay ahead of change.

In this edition we speak to Viktorija Vasiliauskaite Bailey, Director, Roadways (Hailsham Roadway Construction) on the lessons learnt from the project "Roadways Sustainable by Design" shortlisted for the 2026 CIHT Sustainability Award.

Overview of shortlisted project: Roadways has delivered the UK’s first fully specification-compliant, 100% recycled Cold Asphalt on the strategic road network, cutting embodied carbon by 40% while eliminating virgin aggregate use. Delivered in partnership with National Highways and verified by WSP, the scheme directly correlates with a number of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By replacing heat-intensive hot mix with zero-heat circular production, the project reduces emissions, protects marine ecosystems, improves air quality, and demonstrates that sustainable infrastructure can outperform conventional construction in quality, safety and cost.

   

How did you ensure that the project has long term use and a positive legacy?

At Roadways we started from a simple, somewhat uncomfortable question: why do we keep heating stone and bitumen to 140° – 180°C to produce asphalt when we don’t have to? Traditional hot or warm-mix asphalt is expensive. It is also carbon, energy and raw aggregate - heavy, and logistically fragile. Instead of accepting this "thermal and environmental risk", we developed, produced and laid cold bitumen emulsion based asphalt on the National Highways Strategic Road Network (SRN) resurfacing schemes, part of the PDF2 framework. It was delivered for the very first time on the SRN and without any departures required as this product is clause 948 compliant. What changed was not the design itself but the logic behind its delivery: - significantly reduced temperature, cost and quality risks associated with logistical or site delays - 100% of reclaimed road planings were refused on same schemes using back - haulage. - it also achieved 40% lower embodied carbon compared to traditional warm asphalt mix. The legacy isn’t just the 1,300 tonnes we laid on these resurfacing schemes. The legacy is proving that this is repeatable, scalable, and fully compliant. It is estimated that if only 10% of the UK's total annual asphalt demand is shifted to cold bitumen emulsion based asphalt (not foam, as it requires extensive heating), the carbon savings would be around 50,000 tonnes per year. The real question isn’t whether this creates a legacy—it’s why this isn’t already the default.

   

What kind of skills are critical now for projects such as yours to succeed and why?

As carbon is no longer an aspiration but a contractual requirement, our industry must develop skills that will be able to stop treating sustainability as an “extra” and start seeing it as a fundamental design and engineering decision. The industry does not necessarily lack solutions or is in need of radical innovation; it lacks the skills required to apply existing standards intelligently. Most efficiencies already sit within our specifications but remain underutilised (UK spelling). The key skill is knowing how to design or challenge a design and provide a compliant alternative without requiring departures. For example, on the A27 Arundel S278 scheme, the initial design proposed a pavement depth of over 800mm, introducing significant excavation risk near multiple services including a medium-pressure gas main. By suggesting, producing, and installing Hydraulically Bound Material (HBM), Roadways teams reduced the construction depth by 360–460mm. This removed unnecessary risk, cost, disruption, and haulage while delivering 70% lower embodied carbon compared to the initial design. Equally, the use of cold bitumen emulsion-based asphalt demonstrates the importance of standards literacy and 40% lower carbon-aware design. Understanding how to apply Clause 948 materials as a direct replacement for traditional binder and base layers allows teams to remove temperature dependency, reduce energy use, and utilise 100% recycled aggregates within existing specifications. This is not a new material challenge, but a skills challenge—knowing where and how it can be applied confidently, compliantly, and at scale. A critical skill for modern asset management is understanding that cost and carbon are closely linked. In the Southampton Road Recycling Programme, we applied a full circular economy approach using HBM to deliver a reconstruction depth of approximately 315mm. Crucially, this was delivered within the same budget as a standard 100mm resurfacing and with 70% carbon savings in comparison to the traditional road reconstruction methods. This was achieved by eliminating tar-bound contaminated hazardous waste to landfill and reusing over 1,400 tonnes of site-won material. While the 100mm resurfacing would likely fail within few years, the HBM reconstruction provides a stronger, longer-lasting asset. To succeed in scaling methodologies like these today, industry must move away from fragmented subcontracting and adopt a system-led approach where design, engineering, commercial intelligence, and delivery operate as one. Controlling production, logistics, and installation as a single system is what enables these outcomes. Without that control, risk is simply transferred between parties rather than reduced. The issue is not always a lack of skills, but the limitations of rigid subcontracting models, which cannot respond effectively to the demands of modern projects. Success requires integrated partners who take accountability for the full engineering cycle. In summary, the critical skill today is the ability to integrate disciplines. Projects succeed when teams: - apply standards intelligently at the design and delivery level - reduce depth and material movement to lower risk and cost - control the delivery chain from production to placement - deliver carbon reduction as a direct result of better engineering This is how cost certainty, lower risk, lower carbon and long-term asset performance are achieved in a repeatable, controlled system.

   

What did you learn that you will take into the next project?

Knowledge, confidence and persistence paid a crucial role. Exitu road recycling and HBM/CBGM are not new. Cold asphalt isn’t new. Standards already allow it. Yes, historically its adoption wasn't great for various reasons. However, materials: bitumen, and the quality of recycled materials have improved significantly over time. All plant that Roadways uses in producing these products today: batching plant, graders, crushers are computerised. Quality controls and standards of production are very high. Going forward, we’ll continue: - initiate engagement at the design phase where possible - expand application of cold bitumen emulsion based asphalt (direct replacement to AC20, AC32) - invest in discussions and green skills development among our clients and partners - stay curious, knowledgeable and responsible.

     

What trends should the sector be paying attention to and why?

The sector needs to stop waiting for a "Next Big Invention" and start looking at the "Holy Grail" already hidden in our existing standards. We are currently suffering from "Innovation Fatigue"—chasing experimental trials and seeking time-consuming departures from standards or specifications when some of the most effective tools for decarbonisation are already sitting in our specifications. We need the technical bravery to apply existing road construction and surfacing methods like cold-mix technology and Hydraulically Bound Materials (HBM/ CBGM) more aggressively and effectively. Sustainability shouldn't be an experiment or a niche trial; it should be the baseline engineering choice. The industry should move delivery model throughout integrated partners or self delivering SMEs who can bridge the gap between design, production, and installation. If you do not control the material system and the logistics, you cannot truly control the program or the risk. Turning a liability—such as hazardous coal-tar asphalt—into a certified structural asset is no longer just a "green" aspiration; it is a commercial necessity. As energy, lane rental, landfill, haulage and virgin aggregate costs escalate, the ability to transform site-won waste into a structural resource that also allows for a shallower construction is the only way to protect project budgets and the environment at the same time. We shouldn’t be asking for permission to be sustainable. We should be using the engineering tools we already have to make "The Right Way" the only way.

   

Roadways in their own words

We have over 55 years’ pedigree in civil engineering and asphalt surfacing.

We understand our industry, its people and its ways of working.

Roadways is solid, established and credible.

We have a long-term client portfolio that includes major highways authorities and important motorway projects.

road-ways.co.uk

  

Next steps

If you work in highways and transportation, keep an eye out for Beyond the Awards: Lessons from the Shortlist overview (Coming soon) — your single go-to source for sharp, practical insight drawn from standout projects and the people behind them. By bringing together key takeaways from award entries and candid interviews with leading contributors, this feature turns real-world experience into real-world learning that you can apply today to your projects while helping you stay prepared for what’s coming next.

2026 CIHT Award Winners

The results for the 2026 CIHT Awards will be announced at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London on 17 June 2026.  To find out more about the Awards Ceremony visit here.

  

CIHT Statement

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the CIHT or its members. Neither the CIHT nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein

  

Share
Email
Bookmark