IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i8p2276-d223064.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Carbon Footprint Estimation in Road Construction: La Abundancia–Florencia Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Marianela Espinoza

    (National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models, University of Costa Rica, San José 11501, Costa Rica)

  • Noelia Campos

    (National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models, University of Costa Rica, San José 11501, Costa Rica)

  • Rebekah Yang

    (Transportation Engineering Solutions and Technologies, Inc., Champaign, IL 61822, USA)

  • Hasan Ozer

    (Transportation Engineering Solutions and Technologies, Inc., Champaign, IL 61822, USA)

  • José P. Aguiar-Moya

    (National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models, University of Costa Rica, San José 11501, Costa Rica)

  • Alejandra Baldi

    (National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models, University of Costa Rica, San José 11501, Costa Rica)

  • Luis G. Loría-Salazar

    (National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models, University of Costa Rica, San José 11501, Costa Rica)

  • Imad L. Al-Qadi

    (Transportation Engineering Solutions and Technologies, Inc., Champaign, IL 61822, USA
    Illinois Center for Transportation University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, IL 61822, USA)

Abstract

The environmental impact of road construction and rehabilitation can be associated with the increase of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are highly related to climate change. Consequently, departments of transportation have recently focused on the development and implementation of tools to evaluate the performance of projects and minimize GHG emissions. An example is the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) to analyze and quantify the environmental impact of a product, system, or process, from cradle to grave. In this regard, the present case study quantifies the carbon footprint associated with the construction of the La Abundancia–Florencia highway, located in the province of San Carlos in Costa Rica. The analysis is also intended to generate consciousness both in the public and private sectors on the environmental impacts of road construction. After an LCA study, it was determined that the construction of the hot mix asphalt (HMA) layer generates a carbon footprint of 65.8 kg of CO 2 e per km of road. In addition, it was evident that HMA production generates the greatest environmental impact, among all the considered LCA production and construction stages, with a GHG contribution of 38% to 39% from bitumen only. Consequently, special attention to HMA production is required in order to minimize GHG emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Marianela Espinoza & Noelia Campos & Rebekah Yang & Hasan Ozer & José P. Aguiar-Moya & Alejandra Baldi & Luis G. Loría-Salazar & Imad L. Al-Qadi, 2019. "Carbon Footprint Estimation in Road Construction: La Abundancia–Florencia Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:8:p:2276-:d:223064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2276/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2276/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giampiero Trunzo & Laura Moretti & Antonio D’Andrea, 2019. "Life Cycle Analysis of Road Construction and Use," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fang, Zigeng & Yan, Jiayi & Lu, Qiuchen & Chen, Long & Yang, Pu & Tang, Junqing & Jiang, Feng & Broyd, Tim & Hong, Jingke, 2023. "A systematic literature review of carbon footprint decision-making approaches for infrastructure and building projects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    2. Mohamed Ezzat Al-Atroush & Jumana Almushcab & Duha Alhudaif & Yosra Meskinyar, 2023. "Exploring the Potential of 3D Printing Technology for Sustainable Plastic Roads: A Preliminary Investigation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-24, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. ZhiWu Zhou & Julián Alcalá & Víctor Yepes, 2020. "Environmental, Economic and Social Impact Assessment: Study of Bridges in China’s Five Major Economic Regions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-33, December.
    2. Mayara S. Siverio Lima & Mohsen Hajibabaei & Sina Hesarkazzazi & Robert Sitzenfrei & Alexander Buttgereit & Cesar Queiroz & Viktors Haritonovs & Florian Gschösser, 2021. "Determining the Environmental Potentials of Urban Pavements by Applying the Cradle-to-Cradle LCA Approach for a Road Network of a Midscale German City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Hrvoje Grofelnik & Nataša Kovačić, 2023. "Factors Influencing the Carbon Footprint of Major Road Infrastructure—A Case Study of the Učka Tunnel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Eduardo Cejuela & Vicente Negro & Jose María del Campo, 2020. "Evaluation and Optimization of the Life Cycle in Maritime Works," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Husnain Arshad & Muhammad Jamaluddin Thaheem & Beenish Bakhtawar & Asheem Shrestha, 2021. "Evaluation of Road Infrastructure Projects: A Life Cycle Sustainability-Based Decision-Making Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-26, March.
    6. Ling Xu & Yinfei Du & Giuseppe Loprencipe & Laura Moretti, 2023. "Rheological and Fatigue Characteristics of Asphalt Mastics and Mixtures Containing Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) Residues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Gislaine Luvizão & Glicério Trichês, 2023. "Case Study on Life Cycle Assessment Applied to Road Restoration Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-26, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:8:p:2276-:d:223064. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.