Sustainability in Materials and Design of Road Construction—2nd Edition
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 3 December 2026 | Viewed by 14
Special Issue Editors
Interests: bituminous mixtures design and technologies; circular economy; eco-efficient pavement solutions; life cycle analysis; life cycle cost analysis; materials characterization; multi-recycling capacity of bituminous mixtures; pavement design, modelling and maintenance; pavement materials; pavement performance; reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP); rejuvenation and ageing effects; reflective characteristics of bituminous mixture surface; sustainability; transportation geotechnics; testing and evaluation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: pavement materials and construction technologies, including innovative technologies and alternative/recycled/sustainable materials; behavior assessment of road and airport pavements; circular economy; extreme weather events; mitigation of climate change effects; life cycle assessment (LCA); greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: road and airfield infrastructure systems; pavement design and analysis; pavement materials; pavement construction and maintenance technologies; pavement management and performance; sustainability; safety; transportation geotechnics; testing and evaluation; quality management systems; intelligent transportation systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce this new Special Issue of Sustainability on “Sustainability in Materials and Design of Road Construction—2nd Edition”.
The transportation sector faces increasing challenges related to climate change, resource depletion, environmental impacts, and rising infrastructure demands. Pavements, as one of the most resource- and energy-intensive infrastructure systems, play a critical role in advancing sustainability and resilience in road construction and maintenance.
This Special Issue aims to bring together innovative research and practical applications that promote sustainable, durable, and climate-resilient pavement systems, integrating advances in materials, design, performance, digitalization, and policy.
We welcome original research articles, reviews, and case studies that provide new insights into sustainable pavement practices, life cycle assessment, and the transition towards low-carbon, circular economy-oriented road infrastructure.
The focus is on eco-efficient pavement design and sustainable materials for paving solutions, aiming to reduce the use of natural resources and the amount of waste generated during construction and maintenance actions. It aims to cover eco-efficient design solutions that can ensure that sustainable development aligns with international goals, which is in line with the aim of the journal Sustainability.
Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Promote the bio-/green/circular economy by adding value to products using bio-based solutions or recycled materials;
- Eco-efficient pavement design considering the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources for low-impact economic development;
- Pavement performance under climate change;
- Cost–benefit analysis and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA);
- Digital twins and AI for sustainable pavement management;
- Net-zero strategies in road construction and maintenance;
- Circular economy approaches with industrial by-products and wastes;
- Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of solutions;
- Multi-recycling capacity of materials;
- The application of rejuvenators to recover materials’ properties and add value;
- Paving materials for bound and unbound layers.
The first edition can be found here:
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/pavmat_des
Dr. Vítor Antunes
Dr. Ana Cristina Freire
Dr. José Neves
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- bio-/green/circular economy
- circular economy
- climate change
- digital twins
- durability
- eco-efficient pavement design
- life cycle analysis
- life cycle cost analysis
- low-impact development
- multi-recycling capacity
- net-zero strategies
- paving materials
- rejuvenators
- sustainability
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Related Special Issue
- Sustainability in Pavement Materials and Design in Sustainability (11 articles)
