Life cycle assessment of pavement: Methodology and case study

A life cycle assessment model is built to estimate the environmental implications of pavements using material, distribution, construction, congestion, usage, and end of life modules. A case study of three overlay systems, Portland cement concrete overlay, hot mixture asphalt overlay, and crack, seat, and overlay, is presented. The case leads to the following conclusions. It is reasonable to expect less environmental burdens from the Portland cement concrete and crack, seat, and overlay options as opposed to hot mixture asphalt while although the results have a high degree uncertainties. The material, congestion, and particularly usage modules contribute most to energy consumption and air pollutant. Traffic related energy consumption and greenhouse gases are sensitive to traffic growth and fuel economy improvement. Uncertainties exist in the usage module, especially for the pavement structure effect.

► A systematic and comprehensive framework of LCA model in pavement field has been constructed.
► Three pavement overlay systems are evaluated using the proposed LCA model.
► PCC and CSOL options have less environmental burdens compared with HMA option.