Sustainability Life Cycle Analysis of Asphalt cradletograveanalysis

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SustainabilityLife Cycle Analysis of
Asphalt(cradle-to-grave-analysis)
Jean-Martin Croteau, P.Eng. Manager, Quality
Systems Technical Development Works Alberta
Ltd. jmcroteau_at_worksalberta.ca
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Life Cycle Analysis of Asphalt

• Overview of traditional concepts
• Sustainability
• value analysis
• impact of road work
• environmental considerations
• Technical advancements
• Importance of placement of asphalt products
• Pavement preservation

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Overview of Traditional Concepts

• Life cycle analysis
• mainly used for cost (known as LCCA)
• often associated with pavement solution
  comparisons
• flexible structure vs. rigid structure
• polymer-modified vs. neat asphalt
• recycling vs. new material
• and many more
• When analysis limited to cost
• methodology of calculation relatively well
  establish

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Typical Life Cycle Cost Analysis
The cost of all activities are computed at time
0 accounting for discount rate and time. This is
called the Net Present Value.
Cost
Time
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Net Present Value
Number of Recurring Costs
Initial Cost
Number of Years
Recurring Costs
Discount Rate
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Overview of Traditional Concepts

• LCCA may be used two ways
• prediction of the future using available
  information on cost and performance
• actual cost of existing pavement based on
  historical data from agencies record
• Even though LCCA method are well established,
  many variables greatly influences results of the
  analysis
• predicting the future is always a challenge
• assembling historical data requires diligent
  searching

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Overview of Traditional Concepts

• Life cycle cost analysis are site specific
• Site specific studies are often used to make
  general statements by advocates of the white and
  the black
• There is more to pavement than strictly cost or
  its color

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Sustainability

• United Nations defines sustainable development
  as
• development that meets the needs of the present
  without compromising the ability of future
  generations to meet their needs
• In short
• to keep in existence without compromising the
  future
• In a context of sustainability, life cycle
  analysis of any product is broaden to criteria
  beyond cost
• Applicable to asphalt related products

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Sustainability

• Sustainability of any pavement solutions may
  include
• value analysis
• life cycle cost versus performance
• safer roadways and better pavement surface
  characteristics
• improved smoothness for better user comfort
• impact of road work
• disturbance to traveling public
• nuisance to the surrounding environment
• environmental considerations
• better control of natural resources,
• lower energy consumption,
• less greenhouse gases,
• use of alternative products/techniques

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Sustainability - Value Analysis

• The value of a pavement solution is not strictly
  based on cost
• The expected functional performance versus cost
  provides an element of value for a given pavement
  solution
• Functional performance may be defined as
• structural adequacy
• surface characteristics

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Sustainability - Value Analysis

• Structural adequacy
• condition index
• smoothness
• Surface characteristics
• friction
• smoothness
• rutting
• rolling noise
• water spray
• headlight glare
• visibility

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Cost vs. Performance
Analysis Period
Remaining Life
Pavement Condition
Cost
Time
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Sustainability - Impact of Road Work

• Disturbance to traveling public
• user costs
• costs incurred by users of a facility
• safety hazard cost
• user costs include ...
• vehicle operating cost
• user delay
• FHWA guidelines for delay costs
• passenger vehicle 11.58/hour
• single unit truck 18.54/hour
• combination truck 22.31/hour

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Sustainability - Impact of Road Work

• Nuisance to surrounding environment
• Noise
• limiting noise during roadway construction
  activities
• Safety
• providing safety for traveling public and the
  workers
• Pollution
• limiting odors, dust, water, soil and visual
  pollution
• Vibration
• avoiding the usage of large vibrating equipment
• Availability of facility
• minimizing the surface occupied during
  construction

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Sustainability - Environment

• Better control of natural resources
• premium resources for premium usage
• promote usage of local material
• Lower energy consumption and less greenhouse
  gases emission
• includes all aspects of the production line from
  the mining of raw materials to the end of a
  roadways service life
• Alternative materials/techniques

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Energy Consumption
MJ/tonne
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Greenhouse Gas Emission
CO2 eq./tonne
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Sustainability - Environment

• Energy consumption
• equivalent pavement structures including
  maintenance over a period of 30 years (Dorchies
  et al., CTAA, 2005)
• rigid structure
• 800 to 1000 MJ/m2 (21 to 26 lt/m2 of diesel
  fuel)
• flexible structure
• 500 to 600 MJ/m2 (13 to 15 lt/m2 of diesel fuel)
• in-place recycling and HMA surfacing system
• 350 to 550 MJ/m2 (9 to 14 lt/m2 of diesel fuel)

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Sustainability - Environment

• Greenhouse Gas Emission
• equivalent pavement structures including
  maintenance over a period of 30 years (Dorchies
  et al., CTAA, 2005)
• rigid structure
• 3 to 4 times the emission of a new flexible
  structure
• flexible structure
• 20 to 40 kg/m2 of CO2 equivalent
• in-place recycling and HMA surfacing system
• 0.75 times the emission of a new flexible
  structure

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Sustainability - Environment

• Alternative materials techniques
• recycling in any form
• hot, cold, warm,
• plant or in-place
• alternative materials
• shingles
• alternative techniques
• rubblizing
• construction debris
• crushed concrete

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Technical Advancements

• Sustainability is to keep in existence and to
  prolong without compromising the future
• Sustainability of any product may also be
  regarded as how a product evolves with current
  and future requirements
• Asphalt products are constantly evolving to adapt
  to current needs, but also to anticipate future
  expectations

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Technical Advancements

• Engineered binders
• polymer-modification
• SHRP products
• PG system for binders
• Superpave system for HMA
• European technologies
• SMAs
• thin bonded wearing courses
• Recycling
• hot, cold, warm
• in-place
• high ratio recycled HMA

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Technical Advancements

• Thin surfacing systems
• premium fibre-reinforced chip seals
• micro-surfacing
• thin HMA systems
• Warm mixes
• High modulus mixes
• Low noise surfacing systems

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Technical Advancements

• and more to come

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Importance of Placement

• Benefits of asphalt pavement are quickly lost
  when placement of these products is compromised
• To perform, asphalt pavements have to be
• smooth
• well densified
• free of segregation
• of uniform thickness

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Functional Service Life Impact
Compromised placement may lead to 60 loss of
functional service life
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Pavement Preservation

• The benefits associated with the usage of asphalt
  products to build pavements are quickly lost if
  asphalt pavements are not preserved
• Pavement preservation is a strategy that focuses
  on maintaining existing roadways instead of
  typical strategies of fixing worst first
• The proactive approach of preventive maintenance
  is known as pavement preservation

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Pavement Preservation

• Pavement preservation is
• a program employing a network level, long-term
  strategy that enhances pavement performance by
  using an integrated, cost-effective set of
  practices that extend pavement life, improve
  safety and meet motorist expectations.
• Preventive maintenance is
• the planned strategy of cost effective treatments
  to an existing roadway system that preserves the
  system, retards future deterioration, and
  maintains or improves the functional condition of
  the system.

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Pavement Preservation
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Pavement Preservation
Keeping good roads good
through an effective pavement preservation
program
optimizes pavement performance

• which consequently

optimizes the life cycle of asphalt
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Summary

• In a context of sustainability, life cycle
  analysis of asphalt
• is not strictly limited to cost, and
• it must be holistic to be consequential and
  includes
• the value of the work in term of performance vs.
  cost
• the impact of the work on the surrounding areas
• the environment
• Technical advancement in recent years have made
  asphalt even more sustainable
• Sustainability of asphalt is obtained when
• quality is requested and provided
• effective preventive maintenance strategies are
  in place

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Thank you for your attention