Making Concrete Pavements Competitive by Using the Standardized Framework for Comparisons of Infrastructure Projects in Terms of Cost-Efficiency and Climate Impact

Abstract

Despite the new Swedish client requirement to reduce the climate impact from the construction of roads, there has been relatively little research so far on how the optimization measures regarding the environmental impact of road pavements can be integrated in the traditional design. An increase in axle weights, changes of the traditional ways of travel, e.g. the use of automated and guided vehicles, and stricter customer requirements on reducing the climate impact require new approaches to steer the road and pavement industry towards more climate neutral solutions. This paper analyzes the latest standards for sustainability assessment of engineering works in an attempt to adjust these standards for assessing various road design options in a comparable and fair way, also when various materials are included.

Keywords

• structural design
• sustainability
• mix design
• modelling