ABSTRACT
Environmental pollution is a serious issue within the global community and greenhouse gases contribute drastically to this issue as directly affect the global warming. Transport is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide affected by—amongst others—the poor condition of pavements and especially, by pavement roughness. The present study attempts to investigate the impact of asphalt pavement roughness on greenhouse gas emissions of vehicles and specifically, the positive effect of pavement maintenance in terms of roughness improvement on the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions (eqCO2). On this purpose, pavement roughness data expressed as International Roughness Index (IRI) collected from a Greek motorway was analyzed. The results of the data analysis produce evidence in support of the statement that maintenance not only improves the functional and/or structural condition of a pavement, but also contributes to the protection against environmental pollution, providing a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions up to 70%.
