UPM Forestal Oriental - Social and Enviromental Report 2014

ROADS

ROAD SOIL MATERIAL ANALYSIS LABORATORY

In 2014, 251 km of roads were built on our fields and those of Associated Producers linked to the Fomento Pro- gramme. This represented an investment of USD 6.4 million. Furthermore, this year maintenance and improvement work was carried out on 404 km of rural roads, in conjunc- tion with municipal governments.

In order to generate information that enables ob- jective decision-making in evaluations relating to roads and road quality, the soil analysis labora- tory in 2014 managed to: -Determine the quality of the quarry materials used in the company’s works. For this, we analysed 193 samples. -Follow up and support the construction of works by determining the percentage of compaction as the construction of roads progresses. We analysed 21 works. -Inspect the quality of the final dimensions of the works (width, thickness, roundabouts, sewers, bypasses). We were therefore able to generate in- formation to feed into the contractors’ evaluations. This began to be implemented from August 2014. 23 works were inspected -Deployment of geocells in field. These are semi- rigid three-dimensional structures, built out of high-density polyethylene. They are robust, flexible and durable. By confining the material inside, it stabilises, thus ensuring the correct distribution of loads on weak soil.

23