Selected road condition, vehicle and freight considerations in pavement life cycle assessment

Abstract

Road condition affects the operations and costs of vehicles using the infrastructure, as well as the rate at which the road deteriorates during use. Therefore, active and timely management of the road condition can be used as a tool to extend the service life of a road. One of the objectives of pavement Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) is to evaluate the consequences of changes to a system on the entire life cycle and thus all relevant issues that may affect the operation of the system. It provides a comprehensive approach to evaluating the total environmental burden of a road, examining all the inputs and outputs, including material production, road construction, road use, maintenance and rehabilitation and end of life phases for road infrastructure. This paper focuses on issues that are directly affected by the road riding quality, and how this can potentially be utilized in LCA. The paper is mainly based on a pilot study conducted for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) where actual road condition data from two corridors were collected and analyzed to determine the effect of the current road condition and potential changes in these road conditions on the economic and environmental impacts of the situation. Existing Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC) and environmental models were used for the analyses, and new relationships developed for potential freight damage. The objective of the paper is to demonstrate the importance of incorporating the active management of road condition as an aspect of LCA.