When evaluating the sustainability of a construction project, it is important to verify the influence of climate uncertainty and the depletion of natural resources that permeate the strategies to make infrastructure possible, especially those associated with the transportation sector, which have great potential to generate environmental impacts. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effect that subgrade material variation, which constitutes highway pavements with flexible surfacing, can generate in the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of these infrastructures. For this purpose, pavements that had the same materials and thicknesses for the execution of the base (gravel soil-NG') and the subbase (clay soil LG'), but with subgrades composed of different types of tropical soils, classified as lateritic and non-lateritic, were proposed. The combination of these elements enabled the elaboration of pavements with different service lives and atmospheric emissions. The scope of the study included the phases of extraction and production of the inputs necessary to build the roadway envisioned in each scenario, as well as the construction phase itself, considering the operation of construction equipment. The LCA focused on the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and the quantity of primary energy employed in the phases considered. It was concluded that the materials used in this study have similar mechanical behavior, and therefore the results of the design of the thicknesses of the asphalt overlay were close and consequently result in similar energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-07-012 Full Text: PDF

This paper aims to analyze the impact of drought on the life cycle of barge transportation. The LCA method was used to quantify the environmental impact of barge transportation services on the Madeira River/Brazil: Transportation Operation, Barge Fleet, and Waterway Infrastructure. A model for barge convoy formation was developed as a function of river water level variation. From this, the transport operation was simulated, considering the loading of grains from the Madeira River in 2021, as well as the respective fuel consumption and CO2Eq emissions. The results indicate that barge transportation is more harmful to the environment during drought, since only a convoy of nine barges is allowed to navigate, and its energy efficiency is compromised due to the longer travel time and lower loading capacity in one trip. The intense use of this barge convoy implied an increase of 22.25% in CO2Eqemissions when compared to the full river. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-12-02 Full Text: PDF