Life cycle assessment and pavement performance of recycled aggregates in road construction

Abdelhalim Azam; Alaa Gabr; Helal Ezzat; Mohamed Arab; Talal Obaid Alshammari; Emran Alotaib; Waleed Zeiada

Case Studies in Construction Materials (Jul 2024)

Life cycle assessment and pavement performance of recycled aggregates in road construction

Abdelhalim Azam,
Alaa Gabr,
Helal Ezzat,
Mohamed Arab,
Talal Obaid Alshammari,
Emran Alotaib,
Waleed Zeiada

Affiliations

Abdelhalim Azam: Department of Civil Engineering, Jouf University, Aljouf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Public Works Engineering Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt; Correspondence to: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Jouf University, 72238, Aljouf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Alaa Gabr: Public Works Engineering Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Helal Ezzat: Public Works Engineering Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt; Research Institute of Science and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, UAE
Mohamed Arab: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, UAE; Structural Engineering Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Talal Obaid Alshammari: Department of Civil Engineering, Jouf University, Aljouf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Emran Alotaib: Research Institute of Science and Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, UAE; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, UAE
Waleed Zeiada: Public Works Engineering Department, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, UAE

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 20
p. e03062

Abstract

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Integrating environmental goals in the construction of infrastructure has attracted great attention over the past two decades. The use of construction and demolished waste materials (C&D) as a base layer for pavement structures gained popularity as a sustainable alternative to virgin aggregates (VA). An experimental testing program was designed to investigate several recycled materials as a potential replacement to VA in flexible pavements base layer. The testing program included routine tests, matric suction, static, and repeated load triaxial tests to measure the general engineering properties and evaluate the material performance under static and cyclic loading. The results of the laboratory testing program were employed to predict the pavement performance utilizing different combinations of C&D waste as a base layer for flexible pavement structures using the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design at different climate conditions. The sustainability of using C&D material as a partial or full replacement of VA base material in pavement construction was evaluated by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The results showed that all the C&D materials yielded a much thinner base layer compared to the natural VA achieving the same pavement performance. Moreover, the reduction in the thickness is more significant in cold and wet climatic conditions rather than the hot and dry climatic conditions. LCA results revealed that the VA base layer had the highest environmental impact on all tested categories. VA materials, used as a base layer, show 65% higher global warming potential compared to C&D materials as a base layer in all climatic conditions.

Published in Case Studies in Construction Materials

ISSN: 2214-5095 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering: Materials of engineering and construction. Mechanics of materials
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/case-studies-in-construction-materials

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