ABSTRACT
Transportation agencies and pavement industries are challenged with identifying cost-effective pavement rehabilitation techniques to extend pavement service lives. To meet this challenge, pavement recycling techniques have been introduced several decades ago. Although these techniques significantly reduce the cost and energy required to produce pavement layers, the assessment of their life cycle is not well quantified. To address this, a user-friendly life cycle assessment (LCA) and life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) tool was developed specifically for asphalt pavement preservation and rehabilitation techniques. The tool employs life-cycle inventory data to calculate the material- and construction-stage impacts. The use-stage impact is calculated considering pavement related rolling resistance. The inventory data compiled in the tool are consistent with the ISO 14044:2006 standards. After a brief introduction of the tool, an agency-based case study is presented to demonstrate the environmental benefits of cold in-place recycling (CIR), cold central-plant recycling techniques (CCPR), and full-depth reclamation (FDR) compared with conventional reconstruction by milling and applying new overlays. Project specific data from two interstate construction projects in Virginia were collected and analyzed and the system boundary of the LCA and LCCA considered in this study includes materials and construction.
