Abstract
The construction of conventional hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements results in a number of economic and environmental issues, such as the cost of new overlays and associated impacts on natural resources. Although the cold recycling with an emulsified asphalt-recycling agent holds certain benefits over the HMA, its implementation on different road types, ranging from farm-to-market roads to expressways, is yet contentious due to the need for sophisticated equipment and trained workforce. The present research developed a methodology to evaluate all the three dimensions of sustainability, including economic (construction cost), environmental (natural resource depletion), and social (need for advanced equipment and skilled labor) of various scenarios of RAP and conventional asphalt pavements. The present study evaluated an equivalent thickness of the Cold In-place Recycling (CIR) pavement, which behaves similar to HMA pavement under the influence of different traffic loads. Fifty CIR and HMA scenarios for different traffic volumes and pavement layers thicknesses were developed. Finally, the sustainability of all the scenarios was evaluated for traffic designation in Saudi Arabia using fuzzy-based multicriteria analysis. Ranking of scenarios found CIR as a more sustainable overlay option for the feeders, collectors, main urban streets, expressways, and heavily trafficked highways in industrial areas where ESALs (Equivalent Single Axle Loads) range between 2,000,000 and >31,000,000. Considering the limited availability of advanced equipment and skilled labor for CIR pavements, HMA was found be a more sustainable option for farm-to-market roads with the “very light” traffic class. The methodology will help the pavement managers in decision making regarding the selection of sustainable pavement technologies for different road types in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world.
Highlights
Increasing urban development trends have resulted in the construction of dense road infrastructure
Five design scnearios with varying thicknesses of sub-base, base, and wearing course for each traffic class were investigated that generated a total of 50 scenarios, each for Cold in-place recycling (CIR) and Hot-Mix Asphalt Pavement (HMA) pavement types
All the scenarios were evalauted for their economic, enviornmental, and social sustainbility
Summary
Increasing urban development trends have resulted in the construction of dense road infrastructure. Used Hot-Mix Asphalt Pavement (HMA) caused various environmental impacts from its material production to operations and disposal. This has prompted the government agencies and designers to search for appropriate ways to reduce the detrimental environmental impacts of road construction and maintenance, such as consumption of natural resources and production of emissions that are harmful to the health of the workers and residents. An increasing focus on the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in the construction and maintenance of roads around the world has been noticed in the recent past. Saudi Arabia started exploring the possibility of using this technology on a large scale after launching the 2030 Vision that aims to establish a sustainable economy, preserve natural resources, and reduce harmful emissions. Evaluation of the recycled pavements, encompassing all the three dimensions of sustainability, has yet to be evaluated in Saudi Arabia
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