Sustainable and Performance Assessment of Pavement Preservation Case Studies in Arizona

Abstract: Recent federal initiatives in the United States have aimed to reduce the carbon footprint of infrastructure projects. Pavement preservation has become a focus for the state and local transportation agencies in achieving their sustainability goals. Effective and timely selection of preservation strategies can extend the longevity of the overall pavement’s condition by extending its service life and durability. This study aims to identify and quantify sustainable and cost benefits of the existing preservation strategies followed by the transportation agencies.
A comprehensive literature review is performed to synthesize the existing preservation strategies followed by the agencies in similar climatic conditions to those in Arizona. Three recent preservation projects in Arizona are selected for a multi-point sustainability evaluation. Economic and Environmental assessments are performed on the selected case studies using Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) methods. These assessments are performed from the material selection stage (cradle) to the construction and hauling activities (site), which extends the existing “cradle-to-gate” LCA consideration.
Sustainable and cost impacts from the selected case studies are benchmarked using the open-source, public datasets developed or approved by the federal agencies. The performed LCA assessment compares the sustainable benefits and trade-offs of the preservation case studies against the conventional mill and overlay methods. The scope of the research is preliminary and can summarize Arizona’s current state-of-practice preservation strategies. The final output of this research is to guide local agencies in improving and building sustainable and cost-effective preservation schedules.

Keywords: Pavement Preservation, Sustainable Materials, Sustainable Strategies, Cost-effective Strategies, Life-Cycle Assessment, Life-Cycle Cost Analysis, Environmental Impact Assessment