A Decision-making Tool for Incorporating Cradle-to-Gate Sustainability Measures into Pavement Design

The objective of this study was to conceive and develop a decision-making tool for evaluating the sustainability of pavement designs and products, based on a cradle-to-gate analysis (where gate is defined as the gate of the construction job site). This tool is based on Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) in order to enhance the reliability and consistency of the analysis. It was developed such that it can be integrated with state-of-the-art pavement design methods such as Pavement ME as well as the AASHTO 93 pavement design method. The developed tool compares the sustainability of different pavement alternatives by computing the environmental and economic performances, thus combining both to assess the overall performance. As a result, the overall performance in turn presents the most cost-effective and environmentally preferable alternative, thus harmonizing engineering performance with environmental and economic performances. The developed decision-making tool evaluates sustainability, based upon analyses derived from EPD, transportation, and economic data, whereby the first two analyses measure the environmental performance, and the third analysis measures the economic performance. The EPD analysis covers the environmental impacts associated with raw materials extraction, transportation, and manufacturing of pavement mixes. The transportation analysis quantifies the impact due to the principal and back haul of pavement mixes from the plant location to the job site, while the economic analysis measures the economic value of an alternative. The developed methodology, which was integrated in a windows-based decision-making software, can assist both designers and decision makers to evaluate and select the most sustainable pavement design/materials as one that meets and balances the criteria necessary for engineering, economic, and environmental performances. The software presents a simple and effective tool, which may be downloaded by designers via the internet, and may be executed in a local computer.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2018/FR_596.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  https://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2018/ts_596.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/61445
• Corporate Authors:

  Louisiana State University

  Department of Construction Management
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803

  Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

  1201 Capitol Access Road, P.O. Box 94245
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70804-9245

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hassan, Marwa
  • Subedi, Sujata
  • Nie, Qiandong
• Publication Date: 2018-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 227p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision making; Environmental impacts; Pavement design; Sustainable development
• Identifier Terms: Environmental Product Declaration
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Pavements; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01686520
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/LA.18/596
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Nov 26 2018 10:05AM