This paper demonstrates the sustainability of induction-healed asphalt mixtures (HEALROAD) by comparing the impacts this technology causes with those generated by asphalt mixtures maintained by conventional practices such as mill and overlay. The functional unit selected is a 1 km lane with an analysis period of 30 years, and the stages considered are production, construction, maintenance, congestion, leaching and endof-life. Two case studies have been analysed to evaluate the influence of different traffic strategies on the environmental impact of each maintenance alternative. Results show the benefits of using the induction technology at hot points where traffic jams occur.
Polymers are used worldwide for their unique properties such as a light weight or chemical resistance, but which have led to an environmental challenge because of the time they need to completely decompose when buried in landfills.Complementarily, bitumen generates the second biggest environmental impact in the construction of a road. This paper analyses the mechanical, environmental and economic performance of replacing 25% of bitumen with two low-cost plastic wastes (cable plastic and the film fraction from household packaging waste) in an asphalt mixture. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the technology from the 3 viewpoints analysed. The plastic-modified mixtures achieve reductions of more than 17% and 11% in the economic and environmental impact when the analysis is focused on the wearing course.
Porous asphalt (PA) mixtures are more environmentally friendly but have lower durability than dense-graded mixtures. Additives can be incorporated into PA mixtures to enhance their mechanical strength; however, they may compromise the hydraulic characteristics, increase the total cost of pavement, and negatively affect the environment. In this paper, PA mixtures were produced with 5 different types of additives including 4 fibers and 1 filler. Their performances were compared with the reference mixtures containing virgin bitumen and polymer-modified bitumen. The performance of all mixes was assessed using: mechanical, hydraulic, economic, and environmental indicators. Then, the Delphi method was applied to compute the relative weights for the parameters in multi-criteria decision-making methods. Evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS), technique for order of the preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) were employed to rank the additives. According to the results obtained, aramid pulp displayed comparable and, for some parameters such as abrasion resistance, even better performance than polymer-modified bitumen, whereas cellulose fiber demonstrated the best performance regarding sustainability, due to economic and environmental benefits.
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