Proposed Sustainability Composite Index of Highway Infrastructure Projects and Its Practical Implications

Abstract

Highway infrastructure projects always have negative impacts on the sustainable development objectives. However, the construction of these projects will not be stopped due to their importance for the fulfillment of the nations’ economic, social and civilization development. Hence, it is necessary to find solutions for improving their performance toward the sustainability approach. One of these solutions is to quantify the highway projects’ sustainability before starting in their execution. This will guide the decision-makers to adopt the suitable alternative and policy for the development of sustainable highway infrastructure. Previous studies did not adequately integrate the sustainable development dimensions in the construction of highway infrastructure projects, which represents an obstacle to the effective evaluation of highway projects’ sustainability. Addressing this issue, this research proposes an integrated index capable of appraising the sustainability performance of highway projects. The research data were collected from a questionnaire survey conducted with Egyptian experts with lengthy experience in the construction of highway infrastructure projects. Fuzzy set theory and the analytic hierarchy process were utilized to develop the composite highway sustainability index (CHSI). A case study was conducted to elucidate application of CHSI. The study offers the decision-makers an effective methodology to assess the sustainability of their highway infrastructure projects in early planning phases.