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,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rodrigo Polo-Mendoza, Otto Mora, Jose Duque, Emilio Turbay, Gilberto Martinez-Arguelles, Luis Fuentes, Oswaldo Guerrero, Sergio Perez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-07-01
Series:Case Studies in Construction Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509523002929
_version_ 1797798885993742336
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
work_keys_str_mv AT rodrigopolomendoza environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia
AT ottomora environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia
AT joseduque environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia
AT emilioturbay environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia
AT gilbertomartinezarguelles environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia
AT luisfuentes environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia
AT oswaldoguerrero environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia
AT sergioperez environmentalandeconomicfeasibilityofimplementingperpetualpavementsppsagainstconventionalpavementsacasestudyofbarranquillacitycolombia