Murphy’s low carbon car park: asphalt mix and ACLA explained for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Murphy has built a carbon negative car park at its One Murphy Hub in Golborne using a new asphalt mix containing ACLA, a pyrolysed waste-biomass material supplied by Huyton Asphalt in collaboration with Tarmac and Low Carbon Materials. ACLA uses timber offcuts and surplus forestry products treated through pyrolysis to lock in carbon, with each tonne of ACLA permanently removing about 800kg CO₂e; since its March 2024 launch it has already accounted for roughly 820,000kg CO₂e removed. For civil and highways schemes, the project shows carbon-negative surfacing is now deployable at depot and car park scale using existing asphalt supply chains.
Technical Brief
- Asphalt surfacing was supplied through a three-way collaboration between Huyton Asphalt, Tarmac and Low Carbon Materials.
- Huyton Asphalt identifies this as one of the first ACLA deployments in North West England.
- ACLA production uses pyrolysis of timber offcuts and surplus forestry biomass to stabilise carbon in solid form.
- Murphy integrated the carbon-negative asphalt into a combined office and depot development at its One Murphy Hub.
- The Golborne scheme was enabled by Huyton Asphalt proactively proposing ACLA into Murphy’s project specification.
- Supply-chain collaboration across contractor, asphalt producer and material innovator was required to move ACLA into live works.
- For highways and depot pavements, the project evidences that carbon-negative surfacing can be delivered via standard asphalt plants.
Our Take
Murphy’s use of ACLA at the One Murphy Hub in Golborne sits alongside its deployment of a Sany SY215E electric excavator at United Utilities’ Davyhulme phosphorus‑reduction works, signalling that low‑carbon materials and plant are now being trialled across both building and water sectors in North West England.
Murphy’s record 2025 results and £8.17bn order book, noted in our other coverage, give it unusual balance sheet capacity to absorb early‑stage cost or supply risks associated with novel products from suppliers like Low Carbon Materials and Huyton Asphalt, which smaller regional contractors may struggle to trial at scale.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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