United States Department of Transportation
i
Environmental assessment of airport pavement design and construction alternatives : final report.
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2016-02-01
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By Wang, Hao
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Abstract:The objective of this study is to quantify energy and environmental sustainability of asphalt and concrete
runway pavements using Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA). The design alternatives include runway rehabilitation/reconstruction
designs considered in the constructability study at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport and
new runway pavement designs conducted using the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pavement design
methodology. Life-cycle inventory data were compiled from literature and field surveys to contractors. The data
variations in the material-related energy and emission rates were considered for sensitivity analysis. The impact
assessment focused on the cumulative energy demand (CED) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in the material,
construction, and maintenance phases of pavement life-cycle. Both direct energy consumption and GHG emission
and their corresponding upstream components related to process fuels were considered in the impact assessment.
The results indicate that the expected pavement service life and maintenance treatments significantly affect the
comparison between hot-mix asphalt (HMA) and Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements. The consideration
of energy and emissions associated with the production of process fuels and electricity in the upstream process
cannot be neglected in the LCA. Although there are no general conclusions on pavement type selection, the
comparison of energy consumption and GHG emission due to upstream, construction and maintenance stages
brings awareness to the airport engineer on the differences between HMA and PCC pavements. The project-level
analysis should be conducted for selecting the sustainable design alternatives in the airport planning process.
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