A network-level management system to mitigate the global warming potential of road pavements

ABSTRACT

This study details a new, network-level optimization tool aimed at supporting transportation agencies in their efforts to reduce the global warming potential of their road pavement infrastructure. Through a two-stage bottom-up algorithm that integrates with a comprehensive cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment, the proposed tool learns optimal management policies for individual pavement sections and uses that information to guide network-level allocation choices. Through a realistic case study based on data made available by a state department of transportation, this study demonstrates that the proposed modelling approach identifies management strategies expected to reduce the global warming potential of a pavement network by up to 4.8% over 20 years relative to a more traditional, reactive management approach. The resulting model presented in this paper can support agencies in achieving ambitious targets to reduce the global warming potential of their paved infrastructure systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Life cycle assessment
• network-level optimization
• pavement management systems
• sustainability

Acknowledgments

Partial financial support for this research has been provided by TECHNATION Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Individual Discovery Grant program (RGPIN-2019-04955).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23789689.2023.2253411

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [RGPIN-2019-04955]; Technation Canada [Wage Subsidy Program].

Notes on contributors

Miguel Pampolina

Miguel Pampolina is a recent BASc graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia who recently joined Parsons as an engineer-in-training.

Anuarbek Onayev

Anuarbek Onayev is an MASc graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. He is now a practicing asset management consultant at WSP.

Maxime Therrien

Maxime Therrien is a BASc graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. He is currently an engineer-in-training at Urban Systems.

Omar Swei

Dr. Omar Swei is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of British Columbia. He research centers on the sustainable management of infrastructure systems.