Maldonado-Fortunet, F (2002) Sustainable development criteria for the evaluation of highway projects. PhD thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.
Abstract
Sustainable development has been proposed by numerous and diverse individuals and organizations as an alternative model for global economic development as a result of worldwide recognition of the negative effects of current and potential environmental degradation on social development. These individuals and organizations have proposed many definitions and conceptual frameworks for sustainable development and have made many recommendations on how to implement it. More specifically, within the construction industry, public and private organizations responsible for developing new facilities are searching for solutions to current environmental and natural resource problems, and have turned their attention to alternative forms of development that are more sustainable, including but not limited to, the preservation of natural environments, pollution prevention, and the reduction of short and long-term impact on the environment. These alternatives can be selected or considered during the planning, design, construction, and operation of a facility. However, there are a number of difficulties in specifying and applying sustainability as a criterion for planning individual construction projects, particularly, civil infrastructure systems. A review of the literature reveals a lack of both (1) specific sustainability criteria that can assist planners of infrastructure projects in defining project objectives to guide the delivery process, as well as the ultimate outcome of the project; and (2) a practical methodology that can be applied to implement sustainable development normative and operational principles. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop an initial set of sustainability criteria for the evaluation of highway projects, more specifically, within the scope of transportation projects in Puerto Rico. This research uses results of a comprehensive literature review as a point of departure, and applied case study and Delphi survey methodologies to develop a comprehensive list of sustainability criteria, which allow the integration of sustainable development objectives into the domain of highway projects at an early planning stage. This set of criteria will provide a sound foundation for the future development of methodologies and tools for the implementation of sustainability across the life cycle of civil infrastructure projects.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Vanegas, J A |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | economic development; sustainability; construction project; highway; infrastructure project; integration; life cycle; pollution; sustainable development; Puerto Rico; case study |
| Index terms: | planner, highway construction, Puerto Rico, infrastructure project, dissertation, implementation, construction industry, prevention, Delphi survey, pollution, case study, environmental degradation, natural resource, life cycle, construction project, integration, methodology, conceptual framework, economic development, literature review, transportation project, sustainable development |
| Subjects: | financial risk, health safety and environment, Geography, production management, civil engineering, research methods, economic development, theoretical framing, environmental health, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, organizational analysis, value management, environmental impact, profession, data collection methods, research dissemination and communication, data analysis and analytics, contractual arrangements, environmental resource management |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Geographical Context, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Procurement, Sustainability, Cost Management, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here