Geotech social impacts: Development, application, and comparative analysis

Abstract

Sustainability in geotechnical engineering has been examined in academic research, particularly from an environmental viewpoint. However, the social perspective has not received the same attention. This paper proposes a new tool (Geotech Social Impacts), which advances in this area and addresses some of the limitations of the few existing studies focused on social pillar. The rationale and design for this tool (which combines social life cycle assessment and a questionnaire to evaluate ten social indicators) is presented followed by its application in a soil stabilization case comparing traditional and a more sustainable binders for pavement base. The alkali-activated waste-binder showed a higher positive social score (5.9) than Portland cement (3.8). Workers and Society are categories of key importance, and Average wage and Contribution of the service/product to economic progress are the key indicators creating positive impacts for both binders. On the other hand, Employment of Women is responsible for the major negative impacts. A detailed appraisal of existing studies and tools focused on the social pillar (including the new one proposed here) based on a number of criteria was also carried out. Geotech Social Impacts advances the existing literature by entailing: (i) a hierarchical structure for assessment, (ii) an appraisal of social impacts through contextualized and sector-specific response, and (iii) an infographic presentation of data, enabling aggregated and disaggregated results to be easily visualized at once. This study provides a practical application of the proposed tool, which advances in the assessment of social impacts in geotechnical engineering. Its visual presentation creates a dashboard informing and supporting the decision-making process for projects in this field.