Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) of pavements – A case study highlighting challenges and potentials

Abstract

Considering the significant impacts of roads on society, economy, and environment, measuring the sustainability performance of pavements is critical. Therefore, this contribution explores the application of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) by the presentation of a case study of a motorway segment in Germany. The results show that the main hotspots for the environmental and economic dimensions are related to the use stage, specifically maintenance and replacement. Regarding the social dimension, social risks such as discrimination and unfair working conditions were identified. In general, LCSA enables a systematic assess-ment of the sustainability performance of roads allowing the identification of life cycle stages and processes that can later be improved to reduce impacts, while avoiding burden-shifting. However, the method presents several obstacles, some of them relating to the definition of consistent system boundaries and lack of reliable data.