Review of Selected Environmental Assessment Tools: Coverage, Gaps, and Future Steps

Sustainability, understood as a balance of economic, social, and environmental impacts, is emerging as one of the preeminent issues in all fields of public policy, business, and engineering. Decisions in transportation engineering, traditionally made based on functionality and economic considerations, are no exception to this trend. Life-cycle economic calculations already form a large component of decision making best practice, and considerations of social issues are still nascent and potentially distant in the future. The integration of environmental impacts into transportation asset management decision making is within reach and is a necessary step towards truly sustainable practices. Numerous tools for estimating and analyzing the environmental impacts of transportation projects have been developed in recent years. Proper use of these tools requires an understanding of both their capabilities and their limitations. This paper reviews and compares eight environmental impact tools currently available for the assessment of transportation projects. The review reveals that greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the most thoroughly examined impact, while other impacts are analyzed less frequently and less quantitatively. It was also observed that the design and construction phase of transportation projects are more likely to be assessed than other life-cycle stages such as material extraction, material production, and roadway maintenance. With these observations in mind, recommendations for future research and development are put forward.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9789561412309
• Supplemental Notes:
  • The local host for the conference is Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; the international host is the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council, USA.
• Corporate Authors:

  Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

  College of Engineering
  Avenida Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Macul
  Santiago,   Chile 
• Authors:
  • Highfield, Crysta
  • Flintsch, Gerardo
• Conference:
  • Eighth International Conference on Managing Pavement Assets
  • Location: Santiago , Chile
  • Date: 2011-11-15 to 2011-11-19
• Publication Date: 2011

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: 13p
• Monograph Title: 8th International Conference on Managing Pavement Assets, November 15-19, 2011, Santiago, Chile: "Fulfilling the Social, Economic and Environmental Responsibility for Sustainable, Well Managed, Better Roads"

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asset management; Decision making; Environmental impacts; Greenhouse gases; Life cycle analysis; Pavements; Sustainable development
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Pavements; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01366558
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9789561412309
• Report/Paper Numbers: ICMPA193
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 29 2012 11:30AM