The effect of preservation maintenance activities in asphalt concrete pavement sustainability

Abstract

Pavement infrastructure is crucial to quality lifestyle and affluence of society. Since the pavement structure deteriorates after a while, appropriate pavement preservation maintenance is essential to attain a superior performing, safety, and economic pavement network for the users. Nowadays, within a modern society resources and budget are restricted that make it necessary for transportation agencies to discover approaches to use the resources to optimize benefits included in daily operation. Simultaneously, focus on the idea of environmental sustainability has increased substantially. Pavement preservation assists environmental sustainability by preserving energy, raw materials, and mitigating greenhouse gases (GHG) by maintaining good roads in the perfect condition. Thereby, a sustainable pavement maintenance program should look into allocating budget and resources to pavement preservation. Various types of pavement preservation treatments use different levels of energy and produce GHG emissions. Preservation treatments considered in this study included thin hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlay, chip seal, slurry seal and crack seal. This research states the methodology in sustainable pavement preservation maintenance. Its focus is on quantifying and recognizing which of these pavement preservations practices minimize environmental impacts. As the economic is one of the components in triple bottom-line in sustainability, the next step is focusing on cost-benefit of preservation maintenance activity and comparing by rehabilitation activity. This research aims to persuade pavement organization to apply correct perseverance activity on the right time and proper manner to enhance sustainable development.