Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Life cycle assessment of low temperature asphalt mixtures for road pavement surfaces: a comparative analysis

Santos, Joao; Bressi, Sara; Cerezo, Veronique; Lo Presti, Davide; Dauvergne, Michel

Authors

Joao Santos

Sara Bressi

Veronique Cerezo

Davide Lo Presti

Michel Dauvergne



Abstract

The increasing fuel consumption demand, the accelerated pressure imposed by the depletion of scarce raw materials and the urgent environmental protection requirements are forcing the change of pavement industry and academia community's research endeavours towards the development of low emissions road paving technologies able to significantly reduce mixing and compaction temperature as well as the consumption of virgin raw materials. One of the relatively recent technologies in the field of pavement materials that aims at addressing those concerns is the incorporation of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in the production of warm mix asphalt (WMA). It is within this context that this study presents a full process-based comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) looking at understanding the environmental impact of reducing mixing temperature, through the use of warm mix technologies, namely chemical additives-based and foamed-based, and different rate of recycling (0% and 50% RAP). Furthermore, the investigation explores the effect of combining these technologies in the construction, maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) of wearing courses for flexible road pavements. The results of this study showed that, for the conditions considered and assumptions performed, a pavement construction and M&R scenario in which a foamed-based WMA mixture with a RAP content of 50% is employed in the wearing course throughout the pavement life cycle is the most environmentally friendly alternative among all the competing solutions.

Citation

Santos, J., Bressi, S., Cerezo, V., Lo Presti, D., & Dauvergne, M. (2018). Life cycle assessment of low temperature asphalt mixtures for road pavement surfaces: a comparative analysis. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 138, 283-297. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.07.012

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 10, 2018
Online Publication Date Aug 11, 2018
Publication Date Nov 29, 2018
Deposit Date Dec 10, 2018
Print ISSN 0921-3449
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 138
Pages 283-297
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.07.012
Keywords Chemical additives; Hot mix asphalt (HMA); Life cycle assessment (LCA); Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP); Sustainable pavement construction and management; Warm mix asphalt (WMA)
Public URL https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85051377100&doi=10.1016%2fj.resconrec.2018.07.012&partnerID=40&md5=29c06c82ae1c298a0d192fee09535cc6
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092134491830257X?via%3Dihub