Pavement Life-Cycle Sustainability Assessment and Interpretation Using a Novel Qualitative Decision Procedure

Abstract

A novel approach to life-cycle sustainability (impact) assessment and interpretation procedure on the basis of multiple criteria is developed in this paper for the comparison and evaluation of alternative road pavement designs. A case study reported in the literature, which compared pavement structures with virgin materials as well as industrial by-products such as coal ash, crushed concrete waste, and granulated blast-furnace slag, was examined in the context of multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) using the proposed approach. The environmental loadings assessed during the life cycle of the pavement structures included natural raw materials and secondary products, energy and fuel consumption, emissions of carbon dioxide (