Life cycle environmental assessment of retaining walls in unsaturated soils

Speranza, Gianluca; Ferrari, Alessio; Lassalle, Pyrène Larrey

doi:10.1016/j.gete.2021.100241

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…To understand the sources of uncertainty, including those related to data usage, 42% of studies evaluated the sensitivity of important variables and selected parameters. Some studies analyzed the effects of data quality (Inui et (Lee and Basu 2016, Purdy et al 2022, Speranza et al 2022. Though not a sensitivity study, Seol et al (2021) embedded varying soil conditions and properties in their study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Leal et al (2018) was the only study that selected a functional unit in terms of the ability of a earth retaining structure to stabilize failed slopes, while the others selected purely geometric components (e.g., 1 m length or width of retaining wall). Five studies considered stages beyond construction (Rafalko et al 2010, Giri and Reddy 2015, Pons et al 2018, Balasbaneh and Marsono 2020, Speranza et al 2022. Damians et al (2017) conducted a sensitivity analysis which indicated that maintenance and post-construction electricity and diesel use had negligible environmental impacts, justifying their omission.…”

Section: Earth Retaining Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is important to note that these negative values do not retrospectively negate the emissions associated with the process, but rather present the possibility of reusing concrete as a carbon sink. Speranza et al (2022) also calculated environmental impacts associated with end of life (i.e., demolition and disposal/recycling), and noted that calculated impacts were significant, especially if assuming material disposal. Balasbaneh and Marsono (2020) extended the study scope to include retaining wall demolition.…”

Section: Earth Retaining Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evaluation of life cycle assessment (LCA) use in geotechnical engineering

de Melo,

Kendall,

DeJong

2024

Environ. Res.: Infrastruct. Sustain.

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In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis to incorporate sustainability metrics into geotechnical engineering design decisions, driven by the surging eco-consciousness of industry standards. Consequently, life cycle assessment (LCA) has emerged as a popular method for evaluating the environmental impacts of geotechnical systems or projects. This paper conducts a critical review of 54 publications that apply life cycle assessment to various geotechnical systems, including deep foundations, biogeotechnics, dams, ground improvement, earth retaining structures, tunnels, and others. This review assesses the current state of practice for LCA in geotechnical engineering, identifies common barriers to implementation, and provides suggestions for successful execution. While sustainability practices have been more readily adopted by some subdisciplines of civil engineering including structural and transportation, geotechnical engineering faces distinct challenges due to its inherent site-specific nature, characterized by non-homogeneous soils and the necessity for bespoke solutions. Despite the notable increase in geotechnical LCAs , the absence of uniform standards remains a critical issue. Many studies could be improved by enhancing transparency in reporting data and results, clearly justifying input assumptions, and assessing the effects of variable soil conditions. Geotechnical LCA studies often concentrate on highly specialized problems, limiting the relevance of findings to other projects and impeding the development of clear recommendations for industry practitioners. Future research endeavors would benefit from establishment of comprehensive frameworks and multi-indicator models tailored to geotechnical systems to more accurately capture expected environmental impacts and opportunities for their reduction. A standardized approach could reduce redundancy in studies, encourage knowledge transfer, and provide a basis for broader applicability of sustainability practices in the geotechnical engineering profession.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Earth Retaining Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Earth Retaining Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of life cycle assessment (LCA) use in geotechnical engineering

de Melo,

Kendall,

DeJong

2024

Environ. Res.: Infrastruct. Sustain.

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show abstract

“…As a result, research has been conducted in recent times in the assessment of infrastructures focusing on their economic, environmental, and social impacts. Although interest has arisen on the sustainability assessment of a wide variety of infrastructure types, such as pavements [2,3], buildings [4][5][6], earth retaining walls [7][8][9], railway tracks [10], dams [11], and others, much consideration has always been given to the sustainable design of bridges in particular.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytic Network Process-Based Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Bridges in Coastal Regions

2022

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Since establishing the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the assessment of the sustainability performance of existing and future infrastructures has been in the spotlight of the scientific community. This is because the construction sector is essential for promoting the social welfare and economic development of countries, but is also one of the main environmental stressors existing to date. However, assessing infrastructure sustainability throughout its life cycle remains a significant challenge, as the criteria involved in sustainable design are often complex and conflicting. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is recognized as a powerful decision-making tool to model such problems. Here, the life cycle sustainability performance of different design alternatives for a concrete bridge near the shore is evaluated using ANP. The obtained results are compared with those obtained using the conventional Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results obtained using ANP are more reliable than those derived from the conventional AHP in terms of the expert’s consistency and the number of comparisons made.

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Coupling of a water permeability function with a bounding surface hydromechanical model for unsaturated soils

Bruno

Johnson

2022

Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment

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Life cycle environmental assessment of retaining walls in unsaturated soils

Cited by 4 publications

References 28 publications

Evaluation of life cycle assessment (LCA) use in geotechnical engineering

Evaluation of life cycle assessment (LCA) use in geotechnical engineering

Analytic Network Process-Based Sustainability Life Cycle Assessment of Concrete Bridges in Coastal Regions

Coupling of a water permeability function with a bounding surface hydromechanical model for unsaturated soils

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