ABSTRACT
The increasing construction activity along the shoreline of the Stockholm region has intensified the use of existing quay structures. The geotechnical stability is a major issue for the condition assessment of the quays and normally requires geotechnical rehabilitation to retain the usage. However, such methods can entail a large carbon footprint, which needs to be considered in the preliminary design phases. This paper presents a systematic evaluation of five geotechnical remediation methods at an early design stage to facilitate the selection of an appropriate method. The methods are applied to a quay with insufficient stability to reach a target safety factor. The climate impact for each method was evaluated through a life cycle assessment (LCA) based on data from environmental product declarations (EPD). The result shows that the method with the lowest climate impact is the support berm, and the one with the highest is the piled embankment with steel piles. The paper also discusses uncertainties regarding the methods’ applicability in real-life conditions, the impact of later life-cycle stages, and the influence of cost on the choice of remediation.
