Optimal Cracking Threshold Resurfacing Policies in Asphalt Pavement Management to Minimize Costs and Emissions
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 25, Issue 2
Abstract
There is an increasing need for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within pavement management decision-making. Pavement maintenance activities, such as resurfacing, account for millions of tons of the GHG emissions annually in the United States. Optimizing pavement resurfacing activities allows for the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of pavement maintenance. A framework is proposed for estimating the relationship between GHG emissions from pavement resurfacing activities and pavement cracking-threshold policies, where cracking is the trigger distress. Cracking threshold is the maximum percentage cracking level a pavement is allowed to reach before an asphalt overlay is applied. The data set used in the case study was obtained from the Washington State Department of Transportation. The results show that for a planning horizon of 10 years, the optimal cracking thresholds for minimizing costs and GHG emissions are very close to each other.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by a University of California Transportation Center (UCTC) faculty research grant to the second and third authors. The authors are grateful to WSPMS Administrator Tim Rydholm and the Transportation Planning Specialist at WSDOT, Joe St. Charles, who facilitated the acquisition of the Washington State pavement data set.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 25 • Issue 2 • June 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 27, 2016
Accepted: Aug 20, 2018
Published online: Jan 22, 2019
Published in print: Jun 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Jun 22, 2019
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