Impact Assessment of Road Infrastructure: A Holistic Approach

Abstract

A competitive road construction industry can provide various benefits to the society, such as designing and building road infrastructures which can cope with the ever-changing social and economic needs. Hence, in today's competitive market, construction companies have to assess the cost effectiveness of road transport projects in order to support well-informed decision-making. Proper impact assessment will result in road design that is more advanced, efficient operations and improved environmental protection. The traditional road impact assessment methodologies, however, lack the integration of the available natural resources (renewable and non-renewable), environment and relevant stakeholders during the planning phase. The central thrust of this paper is thus to propose a holistic methodology for assessing the impacts of the road projects by taking into account the available natural resources, the environment and by involving all relevant stakeholders. The paper also outlines steps to assess both monetised and non-monetised impacts. By employing the proposed steps, the advantages and disadvantages of new road networks can be identified in a methodical way.

Socioeconomic and environmental impacts of bridge construction: evidence from the Khan Jahan Ali Bridge, Khulna, Bangladesh

“…In most cases, the post-construction phase's impact assessment is neglected (Hasan et al , 2019). Nevertheless, several researchers have undertaken their theoretical and empirical study with particular emphasis on the environmental impact of any infrastructure (Chi et al , 2016; Ayele, 2018; Faisal et al , 2018; Rahman and Islam, 2018; Li et al , 2019; Islam et al , 2017; Blankespoor et al , 2018; Raihan and Khondker, 2010). Faisal et al (2018) assessed the environmental impact of Galachipa Bridge in preconstruction phase.…”

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment and Costing of Lighting Systems for Environmental Design and Construction of Sustainable Roads

“…The useful life of a road more suitable for studies of these characteristics is established between 20 and 75 years [52][53][54][55], depending on the type of road-regional roads, local roads, municipal street networks, highways, bicycle lanes, bridges, or tunnels [56]-and traffic density. In addition, a standard length of 1 km is usually considered.…”