Search results for "Asphalt pavements"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
An ANN model to correlate roughness and structural performance in asphalt pavements
2017
Abstract In this paper, using a large database from the Long Term Pavement Performance program, the authors developed an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to estimate the structural performance of asphalt pavements from roughness data. Considering advantages of modern high-performance survey devices in the acquisition of road pavement functional parameters, it would be of practical significance if the structural state of a pavement could be estimated from its functional conditions. To differentiate various road section conditions, several significant input parameters, related to traffic, weather, and structural aspects, have been included in the analysis. The results are very interesting and …
A comparative life-cycle assessment of asphalt mixtures for railway sub-ballast containing alternative materials
2018
Abstract Bituminous sub-ballast in railway track-bed can mitigate the variation of the moisture content in the subgrade and reduce vertical stiffness variations of the track leading to a more durable infrastructure. Nevertheless, durability is only one of the aspects that affects the sustainability of an infrastructure. Other relevant aspects are related to the environmental and economic issues. This research work joins the worldwide effort towards a paradigm shift in civil engineering devoted to assess the sustainability of infrastructures at the design stage. With this in mind, in this study different alternative bituminous sub-ballast mixtures containing recycled materials, namely crumb …
The Sustainability of Reclaimed Asphalt as a Resource for Road Pavement Management through a Circular Economic Model
2019
The transition of the road engineering industry to a circular way of doing business requires more efficient and sustainable resources, energy, and waste management. The rates in which reclaimed asphalt is being recycled or reused in the asphalt mixture production process constitutes a crucial parameter in this transition. This paper aims at establishing a further step towards the combined circularity and sustainability of asphalt pavements, by introducing a framework for quantifying their Material Circularity Index. The framework is based on the methodology proposed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and accordingly tailored for the context of asphalt pavements. This study, thus, attempts to…
European National Road Authorities and Circular Economy: An Insight into Their Approaches
2020
The pavement engineering industry, having realized the significance of the impacts that it imposes on the environment through the production, construction and management of its products and assets, has been driven towards a more sustainable and circular way of operating. This has partly been through asphalt recycling, which is an area that many road authorities have prioritized. However, not all the National Road Authorities (NRAs) and/or sector stakeholders seem to be adequately familiar with the Circular Economy (CE) concept. This paper attempts to assist the transition of NRAs to a more circular way of doing business, by analyzing the current situation of CE within national/regional auth…
Environmentally appraising different pavement and construction scenarios: A comparative analysis for a typical local road
2015
Abstract The aim of this work is to carry out a comparative analysis of environmental impacts for different scenarios of a typical local road. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the modeling tool used to quantify and characterize comparative environmental impacts. In carrying out this specific application of the LCA, different road construction techniques were considered with regards to the whole structure and compared in order to identify the best alternative in terms of environmental sustainability. So far, in fact, typical LCA frameworks of roads have focused on recycled materials for pavement layers only, thus neglecting study of the materials used in the embankment or in the subgrade. In t…
Machine learning techniques to estimate the degree of binder activity of reclaimed asphalt pavement
2022
Part of this research was funded by the project RTI2018-096224-J-I00 that has been cofounded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, inside the National Program for Fostering Excellence in Scientific and Technical Research, National Subprogram of Knowledge Generation, 2018 call, in the framework of the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017-2020, and by the European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund, with the main objective of Promoting technological development, innovation and quality research. Part of this work was financially supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Research with the research Grant PRIN 20…
Interpreting Life Cycle Assessment results of bio-asphalt pavements for more informed decision-making
2020
Due to emerging climate challenges, engineers are looking to replace the conventional asphalt pavements by utilizing bio-materials combined with Reclaimed Asphalt (RA). However, there is insufficient record in the literature assessing their environmental performance. This study addresses the analysis of the results obtained from a life cycle assessment exercise of asphalt pavements containing bio-materials and RA within their binder courses, developed within the BioRePavation project. The aim is to analyze the environmental benefits achieved, by means of hotspot mapping and sensitivity analysis of the most impactful factors of their lifecycles. Two alternatives are compared to a conventiona…
Exploiting 3D Modelling and Life Cycle Assessment to Improve the Sustainability of Pavement Management
2020
Today road agencies worldwide face difficult decisions for construction, maintenance and rehabilitation of their road infrastructure as they try to balance limited budgets. This is further complicated rising environmental concerns over equipment and techniques used for these practices. This has led agencies to consider alternative approaches for smarter and sustainable pavement asset management systems. This paper considers the use of a low-cost 3D image modelling distress identification and classification proposal for data acquisition and analysis. To establish its environmental friendliness, a case study in Palermo, Italy, is considered wherein a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) exercise is do…