ABSTRACT
KARIM A. ABDEL WARITH, PANAGIOTIS CH. ANASTASOPOULOS, WAYNE RICHARDSON, JON D, FRICKER, and JOHN E. HADDOCK
2.1 BACKGROUND
Renewable, sustainable energy sources are being developed at a record pace throughout the USA and globally, with multidimensional benefits, as they have the potential to boost local economies and generate new jobs [1-20]. In Indiana, energy corporations have invested in three main types of sustainable energy sources, namely, ethanol, wind, and biomass energy, and have built numerous wind farms and ethanol and biomass plants. It is expected that the number of plants and wind farms will triple by 2022 [21]. Increased loads, increased traffic, or both can negatively affect road networks (with respect to the existing infrastructures, the environment, the aesthetics of the local communities, and the safety of the neighboring residents) when sustainable energy projects are introduced into a community
[22-28]. Wind farm construction increases the loads on roads leading to and from the wind farm during turbine construction, but once the turbines have been constructed, there is nearly no increase in traffic [26, 27]. Conversely, when a fixed-point energy source that must be serviced by trucks is constructed, such as an ethanol or biomass plant, it results in additional traffic, and on many occasions, increased loads [22-25]. While it may be possible to mitigate these effects by the use of barge or rail [29], at some point, the road network will need to be used to move the turbine components, or the biomass or ethanol products.
