Environmental impacts of road pavement rehabilitation

Road pavement generates significant environmental impacts through the production, transportation, construction, and maintenance stages. Recycling methods can be used to reduce the demand for virgin materials, but these alternatives are not environmentally benign either. Using life cycle assessment of a real case study near Chatham, Ontario, we model the trade-offs of a road rehabilitation project over a 30-year service life, subject to three scenarios. These scenarios use differing quantities of resources and blends of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). Results show use of RAP with cold in-place recycling substituting virgin materials improves the environmental performance of most indicators, including climate change. These gains are only slightly diminished by the additional transportation of machinery, which we show through sensitivity analysis is likely to improve as the method becomes more commonplace. This research fills a gap in knowledge for understanding the potential improvements for pavement rehabilitation supply chains.