Patel, K and Ruparathna, R (2023) Life cycle sustainability assessment of road infrastructure: A building information modeling-(BIM) based approach. International Journal of Construction Management, 23(11), pp. 1837-1846. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
A significant share of federal and regional infrastructure budgets is spent on constructing, maintaining, repairing, and replacing road infrastructure. Due to its magnitude, sustainable road construction practices can support national sustainable development goals (e.g. The Federal Sustainable Development Strategy of Canada). However, the quest for sustainable road construction practices has been hindered by the lack of expertise, information, and resources. The advent of building information modeling (BIM) provides more extensive access to functional and physical data of construction material. Published literature has overlooked BIM-based methods that facilitate the life cycle sustainability evaluation of road construction techniques. This paper presents a methodological framework for life cycle thinking-based road infrastructure evaluation. This framework compares the life cycle sustainability performance of alternative road pavement construction methods. A BIM-based visual program has been created to automate the proposed framework. The program was demonstrated by comparing three road construction methods for a collector road. Results indicated that geomembrane road is the best solution based on the triple bottom line of sustainability. The proposed Life cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) framework, a BIM-based tool, and the implementation road map will assist infrastructure managers in selecting the most sustainable road construction method that will consequently support United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modeling; life cycle sustainability assessment; road infrastructure |
| Index terms: | sustainable development, strategy, geomembrane, manager, sustainability assessment, program, United Nations, Canada, sustainability performance, life cycle, pavement construction, building information modelling, implementation, road construction, sustainable development goal, construction material |
| Subjects: | health safety and environment, sustainable design, Geography, infrastructure engineering, management, sustainability assessment, software systems, civil engineering, information systems, materials science, practitioner, value management, contractual arrangements, institutional frameworks, building materials |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Roles and Professions, Procurement, Governance, Sustainability, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Project Management, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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