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Title:

Incorporating Sustainability Considerations into the Transportation Asset Management Process

Accession Number:

01125417

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 USA
Order URL: http://pubsindex.trb.org/orderform.html

Abstract:

The strategic, network and project-level decisions supported by transportation infrastructure asset management have many technical, economic, social and environmental impacts over the life-cycle of the transportation infrastructure. The assessment of these impacts over the whole life of the infrastructure systems is necessary for making informed decisions on how to define policies, allocate resources, select projects, and/or design and construct these projects in a sustainable manner. The paper proposes that the approach to evaluate potential transportation projects, programs and strategic plans on the basis of a combination of engineering and economic criteria is no longer sufficient if decision makers want to assure the long-term sustainability of transportation systems. To support sustainable development, transportation asset management decisions should be constructed over three pillars: economic development, ecological sustainability, and social desirability. The assessment of these three aspects has been placed under the umbrella of life-cycle management. Current practice typically includes the consideration of technical and economic issues through life cycle cost analysis (LCCA). Environmental aspects are increasingly being considered though life cycle assessment (LCA) and although the inclusion of social aspects is in its infancy, they should not be neglected. The consideration of environmental and social goals in conjunction with economic considerations promises to enhance transportation infrastructure asset management while promoting sustainable transportation infrastructure systems.

Monograph Accession #:

01120148

Report Numbers:

09-1337

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 USA

Authors:

Flintsch, Gerardo W

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg

Wu, Zheng

MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Incorporated

Chen, Chen

Virginia Department of Transportation

Medina Flintsch, Alejandra

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg

Pagination:

13p

Publication Date:

2009

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC
Date: 2009-1-11 to 2009-1-15
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

DVD

Features:

Figures (3) ; References (40) ; Tables (2)

Subject Areas:

Administration and Management; Highways; Pavements; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2009 Paper #09-1337

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Last Modified:

Mar 30 2009 1:36PM