Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, Colombia
The road infrastructure industry consumes elevated economic resources and generates vast environmental impacts on the planet. Nevertheless, the construction and maintenance of pavements are necessary to guarantee the economic growth of the communities. In this way, finding novel methods, materials,...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-07-01
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Series: | Case Studies in Construction Materials |
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Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509523002929 |
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author | Rodrigo Polo-Mendoza Otto Mora Jose Duque Emilio Turbay Gilberto Martinez-Arguelles Luis Fuentes Oswaldo Guerrero Sergio Perez |
author_facet | Rodrigo Polo-Mendoza Otto Mora Jose Duque Emilio Turbay Gilberto Martinez-Arguelles Luis Fuentes Oswaldo Guerrero Sergio Perez |
author_sort | Rodrigo Polo-Mendoza |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The road infrastructure industry consumes elevated economic resources and generates vast environmental impacts on the planet. Nevertheless, the construction and maintenance of pavements are necessary to guarantee the economic growth of the communities. In this way, finding novel methods, materials, and techniques is essential to achieve a more sustainable industry. One of the most promising alternatives is the implementation of Perpetual Pavements (PPs). Contrary to the Conventional Flexible Pavements (CFPs) and Conventional Rigid Pavements (CRPs), the PPs are designed for a long service life (even superior to 50 years). During this time, the PPs do not require major Maintenance and Rehabilitation (M&R) activities. Due to this characteristic, PPs could present greater sustainability attributes than conventional pavement structures. However, minimal literature is focused on examining these hypotheses since the state-of-the-art has concentrated on studying the mechanical behavior of materials and layers for PPs laying. Moreover, it is most worrying that few investigations have done this in the context of developing countries, where it is more decisive to perform better decisions in terms of economic-environmental sustainability. Consequently, this research conducts a case study on Barranquilla city (Colombia) to estimate the environmental burdens and monetary costs associated with the life cycle of three pavement alternatives, i.e., a PP, a CFP, and a CRP. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) methodologies were employed for these purposes. The results of this investigation demonstrated that PP provides less environmental damage and higher cost-efficiency than the CFP and CRP alternatives. Notably, the most significant contamination potential is provoked by the CRP structure. Meanwhile, the fewer financial profitability is caused by the CFP structure. Therefore, this study indicates that under the typical circumstances of underdeveloped nations, PPs are a more advantageous alternative than traditional ones regarding sustainability performance. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:11:39Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-9170be988470461fa452ef4333ad9c94 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2214-5095 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:11:39Z |
publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | Article |
series | Case Studies in Construction Materials |
spelling | doaj.art-9170be988470461fa452ef4333ad9c942023-06-21T06:54:33ZengElsevierCase Studies in Construction Materials2214-50952023-07-0118e02112Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, ColombiaRodrigo Polo-Mendoza0Otto Mora1Jose Duque2Emilio Turbay3Gilberto Martinez-Arguelles4Luis Fuentes5Oswaldo Guerrero6Sergio Perez7Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Corresponding author.Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla, ColombiaDepartment of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Universidad de la Costa, Barranquilla, ColombiaThe road infrastructure industry consumes elevated economic resources and generates vast environmental impacts on the planet. Nevertheless, the construction and maintenance of pavements are necessary to guarantee the economic growth of the communities. In this way, finding novel methods, materials, and techniques is essential to achieve a more sustainable industry. One of the most promising alternatives is the implementation of Perpetual Pavements (PPs). Contrary to the Conventional Flexible Pavements (CFPs) and Conventional Rigid Pavements (CRPs), the PPs are designed for a long service life (even superior to 50 years). During this time, the PPs do not require major Maintenance and Rehabilitation (M&R) activities. Due to this characteristic, PPs could present greater sustainability attributes than conventional pavement structures. However, minimal literature is focused on examining these hypotheses since the state-of-the-art has concentrated on studying the mechanical behavior of materials and layers for PPs laying. Moreover, it is most worrying that few investigations have done this in the context of developing countries, where it is more decisive to perform better decisions in terms of economic-environmental sustainability. Consequently, this research conducts a case study on Barranquilla city (Colombia) to estimate the environmental burdens and monetary costs associated with the life cycle of three pavement alternatives, i.e., a PP, a CFP, and a CRP. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) methodologies were employed for these purposes. The results of this investigation demonstrated that PP provides less environmental damage and higher cost-efficiency than the CFP and CRP alternatives. Notably, the most significant contamination potential is provoked by the CRP structure. Meanwhile, the fewer financial profitability is caused by the CFP structure. Therefore, this study indicates that under the typical circumstances of underdeveloped nations, PPs are a more advantageous alternative than traditional ones regarding sustainability performance.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509523002929Economic efficiencyEnvironmental impactsLife cycle assessment (LCA)Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA)Perpetual pavements (PPs) |
spellingShingle | Rodrigo Polo-Mendoza Otto Mora Jose Duque Emilio Turbay Gilberto Martinez-Arguelles Luis Fuentes Oswaldo Guerrero Sergio Perez Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, Colombia Case Studies in Construction Materials Economic efficiency Environmental impacts Life cycle assessment (LCA) Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) Perpetual pavements (PPs) |
title | Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, Colombia |
title_full | Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, Colombia |
title_fullStr | Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, Colombia |
title_full_unstemmed | Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, Colombia |
title_short | Environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements (PPs) against conventional pavements: A case study of Barranquilla city, Colombia |
title_sort | environmental and economic feasibility of implementing perpetual pavements pps against conventional pavements a case study of barranquilla city colombia |
topic | Economic efficiency Environmental impacts Life cycle assessment (LCA) Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) Perpetual pavements (PPs) |
url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509523002929 |
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