Influence of pavement condition on environmental costs

Pellecuer, Luc; Assaf, Gabriel J.; St-Jacques, Mich�le

Abstract

Pavement conditions significantly influence the generation of nuisances that influence the environment and increase the costs borne by society. This paper presents a new tool designed to monetize and incorporate environmental impacts in decision-making processes. The Pavement Environmental Impact Model (PEIM) is the first attempt to adapt the Impact Pathway Approach (IPA) to assess the emission, dispersion, and impact of noise, air pollution, and greenhouse gases so that environmental impacts can be included in the economic models of pavement management units. The results of a simulation performed with PEIM for an urban collector road with annual average traffic of 10,000 vehicles per day and a linear density of 240 people per kilometer showed that, within the assumptions/limitations of PEIM, environmental costs were expected to range from 876,000 to 1,983,000 Canadian dollars per kilometer per year for pavement roughness ranging from 1 to 4  m/km. Moreover, although noise costs are consistently disregarded in pavement management, it was expected to represent 54% of the total environmental costs when pavement roughness was above 1.75  m/km. Results demonstrate that PEIM is a suitable tool for roughly estimating environmental costs and helping pavement management units to choose the optimal management alternative.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 19, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jun 23, 2014
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: May 5, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Transportation Engineering
• Print ISSN: 0733-947X
• Electronic ISSN: 1943-5436
• Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 140
• Issue: 10
• Article Number: 04014050
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/%28asce%29te.1943-5436.0000721
• Keywords: Civil and structural engineering; Transportation; Traffic models; Pavement condition; Pavement surface roughness; Air pollution; Sustainable development; Vehicle-pavement interaction; Noise pollution; Public health and safety
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/4819624