Flexible pavement performance and life cycle assessment incorporating climate change impacts

Blaauw, Sheldon A.; Maina, James; Mturi, G A; Visser, A T

doi:10.1016/j.trd.2022.103203

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…This was followed by the development of a social life cycle inventory quantifying the principal social impacts of pavement infrastructure provision . Finally, a complete life cycle assessment was conducted inclusive of road user emissions incorporating climate change impacts and related pavement deterioration trends (Blaauw et al, 2022). The main results of the pavement performance incorporating climate change impacts are reproduced in Figure 2,…”

Section: Structure Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The analysis period is 30 years. It is noted that traffic volume and pavement design are linked, and in Blaauw et al (2022), a matrix of low/high traffic volumes and weak/strong pavements were used to demonstrate the influence of climate on different road categories.…”

Section: Structure Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In simple terms, the model is developed to be dynamic, allowing constant inputs of new data during the pavement management process to not only assess performance against the baseline projections determined during the design phase but to also determine the nature and extent of interventions required in the future to retain a predetermined level of sustainability. Key factors that will influence this performance are climate change and resulting pavement deterioration, true traffic volumes and implemented maintenance actions (Blaauw et al, 2022). Furthermore, settlements that are impacted by the pavement may be monitored for vulnerabilities and the management of the infrastructure may be altered to ensure these vulnerabilities are not further exacerbated, and in an ideal sense, are mitigated.…”

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To apply the MCMC model and determine the impacts of an accumulation of risks on the probability of sustainability, four road scenarios, (Blaauw et al, 2022) are utilised. The road scenarios consider two alternative pavement structures (one strong and one weak) and two maintenance regimes (Baseline and Heavy Maintenance), detailed in Table 2.…”

Section: Road Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A cumulative risk and sustainability index for pavements

Blaauw

Maina

Grobler³

et al. 2022

Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment

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Section: Structure Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Structure Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Road Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A cumulative risk and sustainability index for pavements

Blaauw

Maina

Grobler³

et al. 2022

Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Climate resilience in the context of pavement refers to the pavement's capacity to endure and maintain its intended performance despite the challenges posed by a changing climate. [1]. The long-term pavement performance is highly influenced by the ambient temperature and moisture [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Digital Twins of Asphalt Pavements using Physics-informed Neural Networks

Dilip

2024

World Congress on Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering

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To address the adverse effects of climate change on road surfaces, the creation of a thermal digital twin for asphalt pavements is proposed in this paper. The global increase in temperatures, coupled with heavy traffic loads, has resulted in the premature deterioration of asphalt roads. In response to these early failures, recent efforts have focused on enhancing pavement structural integrity by incorporating asphalt modifiers and cool pavement strategies. Regardless of the chosen approach, continuous monitoring of pavement characteristics using embedded sensors plays a crucial role in enabling timely maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) decisions. One of the ways to achieve this is through the estimation of the thermal diffusivity of the pavement layers which can be directly related to structural condition. To estimate the diffusivity, an inverse-Physics-informed Neural Network model is proposed, which facilitates the integration of sensor data and the heat transfer mechanisms within the pavement. A finite-difference numerical model is adopted to serve as the groundtruth model, to provide the temperature data within the pavement layer, given the boundary conditions. Using the weather data of Dubai, this study has shown the feasibility of adopting Physics-informed Neural Networks (PINNs) to predict the temperature within the pavement layer, despite the complex mixed boundary conditions. Moreover, the i-PINN can be used to estimate the thermal diffusivity with an error of around 0.0001 m 2 /h, using temperature data taken from five depths of the asphalt layer. The contribution of this study, is therefore, a novel condition monitoring of asphalt pavements that can significantly improve existing road maintenance programs.

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Life Cycle Assessment of an Avocado: Grown in South Africa—Enjoyed in Europe

Blaauw,

Broekman,

Maina

et al. 2024

Environmental Management

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Food production is known to have significant environmental impacts, with the main contributors residing in the farming and transportation life cycle phases. Of the various food products transported around the world, avocados have increasingly gained attention as a high-commodity superfood. Avocados require specific climatic and agricultural conditions for farming, with the most fertile land and conditions located outside Europe. Consequently, most avocados consumed in Europe are imported over vast geographical distances, with little information available to quantify the environmental impacts of this imported superfood. This paper aims to present the most detailed life cycle assessment results of an avocado cultivated, grown and harvested in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and exported to the European market for sale and consumption. A life cycle assessment was developed for the farming, harvesting, handling, packaging, ripening, transportation, and carbon sequestration potential of the avocado, and it was used to conduct a holistic life cycle assessment. Input data was obtained through an 18-month data collection campaign across the relevant stakeholders. A baseline ‘business-as-usual’ scenario is focused on throughout this study, and scope for optimisation is identified for each life cycle phase where applicable, accompanied by uncertainty analyses. Results show a total carbon input of 904.85 kg CO2e/tonne. Mitigating this, 521.88 kg CO2e/tonne is offset, resulting in a net carbon footprint of 382.97 kg CO2e/tonne with uncertainty ranges of −23.22 to +58.69 kg CO2e/tonne, normalised to 57.45 g CO2e/avocado grown in South Africa and sold in Europe. The environmental impacts of the avocado industry under consideration are largely mitigated by the “nature first” philosophy of the farming and logistics enterprises, which have made significant investments in reducing emissions. Sensitivity analyses indicate that implementing large-scale renewable energy, using alternative packaging instead of cardboard, and selling avocados unripened could further enable the farming enterprise to achieve Net Zero objectives. These measures could reduce baseline emissions from 382.97 kg CO2e/tonne to a theoretical −68.54 kg CO2e/tonne, representing a 117.9% decrease. Although this study does not quantify climate change impacts, qualitative analyses suggest that climate change will have a net negative effect on the avocado industry in South Africa. These regions, typically located in micro-climates, are projected to become wetter and warmer, adversely affecting crop phenology, pest control, road conditions, management complexity, farmer livelihoods, and food security. The study recommends large-scale implementation of the optimisation strategies identified to achieve Net Zero objectives and the development of proactive climate change mitigation strategies to enhance the resilience of avocado supply chains to future stressors. These insights are crucial for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and consumers aiming to promote sustainability in the avocado market. Graphical Abstract

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Flexible pavement performance and life cycle assessment incorporating climate change impacts

Cited by 17 publications

References 12 publications

A cumulative risk and sustainability index for pavements

A cumulative risk and sustainability index for pavements

Thermal Digital Twins of Asphalt Pavements using Physics-informed Neural Networks

Life Cycle Assessment of an Avocado: Grown in South Africa—Enjoyed in Europe

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