Life cycle assessment of road construction alternative materials: A literature review

This paper presents the results of a literature review on the application of LCA in road construction as a tool to quantify the potential impacts derived from the use of traditional and alternative materials. The research showed that the most common materials found were recycled asphalt (concrete and bitumen), fly ash, and polymer. In addition, the environmental impact categories more commonly assessed were energy consumption and global warming potential (GWP). These results claimed that the construction of roads should be directed towards the fulfilment of technical, social, economic and environmental criteria. Finally, it was found that most of the studies were performed for high traffic volume roads; therefore, for developing countries, research is needed focussed on low traffic ones.