Quantifying the Sustainable Benefits of Preserving Ontario’s Flexible Pavement Assets

摘要

The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) is dedicated to maintaining quality roadways in a sustainable manner. MTO has implemented numerous innovative pavement preservation strategies in recent years to maximize cost savings in repair operations and extend pavement life. Flexible pavement preservation treatments are considered sustainable as they improve pavement quality and durability, and extend pavement service life, while reducing energy consumption and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. This paper outlines the various flexible pavement preservation treatments utilized by MTO to achieve sustainability. These preservation treatments include: crack sealing, slurry seal, micro-surfacing, chip seal, ultra-thin bonded friction course, fibre-modified chip seal, thin hot mix and warm mix asphalt overlays, and Hot In-place Recycling (HIR). The sustainable benefits of flexible pavement preservation are quantified by comparing the energy consumption and GHG emissions generated using the PaLATE software for various flexible pavement preservation strategies against a conventional rehabilitation treatment on a life cycle basis. The results indicate that these innovative pavement preservation strategies significantly reduce energy use, GHG emissions, and contribute to material conservation when compared to traditional treatments. An innovative environmental rating system to promote sustainable preservation of road assets is also discussed.