1. Sustainability Concepts BS:P&P
AAPA Pavements Training & Advisory Centre

2. Outline of Presentation
Concepts
Sustainability Concepts
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Principles
Funding sustainability
Including all the costs
Measuring and managing
Scarcity
Improving performance & sustainability
Summary
Sustainable road provision & maintenance

3. Sustainability Definition
Concepts
Sustainability Definition
Sustainability is improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems
Means:
Minimise our impacts on scarce resources to within their carrying capacity
Actively seek improvements to current systems
Seek different and innovative solutions with more sustainable outcomes

4. Challenge – population / demand
Concepts
Challenge – population / demand

5. Concepts

6. Concepts
Balance!!

7. Balance & Limits to change
Concepts
Balance & Limits to change
What can we do? What can’t we do?
Ours scope is within the service of roads for people & goods mobility:
Improving the quality of the mobility experience
Keeping the use of scarce resources within their carrying capacity
Looking for improvements in the performance of current systems
Seek more sustainable, cost effective solutions

8. Sustainability Assessment
Concepts
Sustainability Assessment

9. Category 3. Using Resources
Concepts
Category 3. Using Resources
“To minimise consumption of precious resources and optimise resource efficiency through lifecycle/cradle-to-grave thinking. To move towards a world where natural resources are consumed no faster than the planet can replenish them.”
Reduce the use of new materials
Satisfy residual needs with reused and recycled material
Material durability to fit asset life cycle (fit for purpose)
Minimal inbuilt redundancy / minimal env. impacts
Recyclability / disposability in materials selection
Include embedded energy aspects in life cycle evaluation

10. Sustainable road provision & maintenance
SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES
Sustainability means
Sustainability is good business practice
Innovation promotes sustainability
Drivers to enhance sustainability
Road Asset management principles

11. to a business Sustainability means . . . . . Must remain profitable
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Sustainability means
Must remain profitable
Must not run out of resources
Reduce waste and include reuse / recycling
Maintain acceptable social profile & impact
Protect the living environment
Improve efficiency – less consumption & emissions - innovate
to a business

12. Road asset management principles
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Road asset management principles
Are we measuring enough of what’s important
Safety impacts – skid resistance, geometrics, events
Pavement – what’s there, how is it performing?
Local materials perform differently
Understand and test pavement strengths
Promote innovative greener / safer options
“If you don’t measure it you can’t manage it”

13. FUNDING SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
FUNDING SUSTAINABILITY
Funding is a sustainability requirement
Mobility – moving vehicles on roads compared to water in pipes
Sustainability and road funding levels

14. Funding is a sustainability requirement
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Funding is a sustainability requirement

15. Mobility – moving vehicles on roads compared to water in pipes
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Mobility – moving vehicles on roads compared to water in pipes

16. Sustainability and road funding levels
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Sustainability and road funding levels

17. INCLUDING ALL THE COSTS
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
INCLUDING ALL THE COSTS
Overall cost of road transport – who carries the biggest load?
Smooth roads reduce fuel consumption
Users carry 95% of costs
>7% saving in costs

18. MEASURING AND MANAGING
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
MEASURING AND MANAGING
Carbon
Measuring “carbon”
Embodied energy in road construction
Road surfacing vs road usage – carbon generation
Carbon footprint calculators
RTA Greenhouse gas inventory

19. 1 m3 of asphalt is approximately 2.45 tonnes.
Therefore the embodied energy in 1 m3 of asphalt produces approximately CO2-eq/m3 or about 10% of the emissions from the same quantity of concrete

20. SCARCITY Scarcity considerations for materials
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
SCARCITY
Scarcity considerations for materials
Peak oil myth or message?
Human Skills
DETAIL ON SOME PRODUCTS
Availability 15 to 20 years
Green Alternates Q1
Quarry products – road base
OK, limits in urban areas
No – cheapest option Q2
Quarry products – concrete stone Q3
Quarry products – asphalt stone Q4
Quarry products – surfacings
As above but high PAFV
Manufactured & slag C1
Cementitious – lime
Capacity limitations
Imports? Fly ash C2
Cementitious – cement
OK, some capacity limits
Imports C3
Cementitious - fly ash
Capacity & quality limits B1
Binders – bitumen
OK, high import capacity
Research level only, plant based, Tars – economic, not green B2
Binders – polymer modified
Production capacity limits
Crumb rubber - waste B3
Binders – bitumen emulsions
Production availability & limits No B4
Binders – cutback bitumen
OK, no known limits, JetA1
Emulsions F1
Fuels – diesel
OK, imports vs limits
LNG F2
Fuels – petrol
Ethanol & LPG F3
Fuels – kerosene F4
Fuels – LPG
Limited by distribution F5
Fuels – LNG
Limited by facilities F6
Fuels – fuel oil
OK, coal dust alternate
LNG, LPG

21. Scarcity considerations for skills
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Scarcity considerations for skills
Construction’s boom & bust cycle
QTRIP - good demand smoothing & cost reducing
Are not locally sufficient in skills for Australia
New “green skills” need to be grown

22. IMPROVING PERFORMANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
IMPROVING PERFORMANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Performance improvements
Flexible pavements solutions available – now
Flexible pavement solutions – on the horizon

23. Performance improvements
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Performance improvements
Durability improvements
Greater functionality – skid resistance – better, thinner
Better pavement performance – thinner & stronger
Maintenance geared to requirements – cracks sealed, reseals done
Products matched to requirements – highly elastic binders for waterproofing
Waste reduction and recycling
Reducing energy consumption

24. Sustainable road provision & maintenance
PICTURE HERE

25. Flexible pavement solutions - now
Perpetual pavements
Recycled asphalt pavements (RAP)
Warm Mix Asphalt
Emulsion based primes, primer seals & seals
Use of waste materials
Crumb rubber – tyres | Fly ash | Glass
Bitumen stabilised pavements
Protection of scarce road surfacing gravel
Modified binders lower risk for temperature rise
Social responsibility – low odour binders

27. RAP is Worth the Virgin Material it Replaces
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
RAP is Worth the Virgin Material it Replaces

28. Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Warm Mix Asphalt

29. Use of waste material – crumb rubber
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Use of waste material – crumb rubber
Motor car & truck tyres a land fill problem
Unhealthy in stockpiles – flies, mosquitoes . .
Shredded and powdered to provide valuable elastomeric modifier
Major social & environmental value
Limits to availability

30. Emulsion based primes, primers & seals
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Emulsion based primes, primers & seals

31. Modified binders for temperature risk
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Modified binders for temperature risk
Usage
Name
Softening Point Range ⁰C
Observation
Seal grade bitumen
CL170
Lab results
Seal grade PMB low stress
S0.3B
2 to 4 ⁰C improvement
Seal grade PMB high stress
S4.5S
36 to 48 ⁰C improvement
Seal grade Crumb Rubber
S15RF
9 to 13 ⁰C improvement
Asphalt grade bitumen
CL320
Asphalt grade PMB low stress
A0.6S
17 to 41 ⁰C improvement
Asphalt grade PMB high stress
A5S
34 to 51 ⁰C improvement

32. Flexible Pavement Solutions – on the horizon
Sustainable road provision & maintenance
Flexible Pavement Solutions – on the horizon
Carbon Capture in bitumen production
Putting waste products to use
Bitumen substitutes
Energy from asphalt
Active asphalt

33. Need to do it together Government & Industry

34. REMEMBER Whole of life considerations of broad impacts
Follow the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle
Lower embedded energy and reduce redundancy
Assess current options against new norms
Improve current systems – measure / manage
Use the available options properly
Innovate and actively support improved solutions
Remember the bigger issues whilst starting small

35. SUMMARY Quality of mobility service is a priority
Consider scarcity of materials vs road user demands
Manage discontinuous changes – carbon pricing, etc
For bituminous products industry / sector
No binder scarcity , aggregates adequate, prices will rise
100% recycling, lower impact products are available
Go for lower energy demand / smaller carbon footprint
Innovative solutions being developed, encourage them