Special Issue "Sustainability of Transport Infrastructures"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Joel R.M. Oliveira
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering (DEC), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: maintenance and rehabilitation of road pavement, life-cycle assessment, sustainability, pavement preservation, pavement recycling, warm mix asphalt, grouted macadam
Dr. Hugo Silva
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Azurém, 4800-058, Guimarães, Portugal
Interests: asphalt materials; bitumen modification; ecomaterials; waste incorporation; recycling; warm mix asphalt; advanced characterization
Prof. Dr. R. Christopher Williams
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Interests: development and use of biomaterials in asphalt materials as rejuvenators, warm mix asphalt, biopolymers, recycling and reuse of materials, pavement sustainability
Prof. Dr. Zejiao Dong
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150090, Harbin, China
Interests: road pavement, airport pavement, bio-asphalt, rubberized asphalt, pavement recycling, fiber optic sensor, pavement dynamic mechanics, pavement health monitoring

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We live in an age in which sustainable activity is no longer optional. The limited resources now available and the impacts of our way of living must be the driving forces for planning our interactions with each other and with the environment.

Transport infrastructure plays an essential role in the way our society functions. Thus, to assure adequate living conditions for future generations, its sustainability is crucial.

The changes to the International Maritime Organization regulations will reduce the amount of sulfur from 3.5% S m/m to 0.5% S m/m and will lead to an increase in 75% of the fuels consumed by commercial maritime vessels in 2020. This change will further impact crude oil refining operations and will likely lead to the continued decline in the quality of bitumen used for paving applications, which will create additional life cycle costs and sustainability issues for transport infrastructure.

All current efforts made to promote sustainability are particularly important if we want to meet the UN sustainable development goals, achieve the objective of Building China’s Strength in Transport, or reach the EU greenhouse gas emission targets, respectively, by 2030, 2035 and 2050.

The present Special Issue aims to gather a series of manuscripts relating to sustainable transport infrastructure. We invite submissions related to the use of recycled and bio-derived materials, and lower energy-consuming technologies, with a possible focus on their life-cycle assessment. The infrastructure in question should be prepared for the demands of climate change and for sustainable and smart mobility challenges. Therefore, manuscripts focusing on the engineering properties of construction materials, their interaction with the environment, or the social aspects related to their use in transport infrastructure are welcome. Additionally, papers concerned with the policies and implementation of sustainable practices would also be appreciated.

Dr. Joel R.M. Oliveira
Dr. Hugo Silva
Prof. R. Christopher Williams
Prof. Zejiao Dong
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 papers will be 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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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 1900 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

  • Sustainable or durable pavements
  • Alternative materials
  • Recycling
  • Waste incorporation
  • Warm mix asphalts
  • Bio-binders
  • Life-cycle Assessment
  • Circular economy
  • Energy efficient technologies
  • Pavement Ecological monitoring
  • Sustainable mobility
  • Transport environmental policies
  • Sustainability Interpretation in Transport Infrastructure

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

Article
Comprehensive Life Cycle Environmental Assessment of Preventive Maintenance Techniques for Asphalt Pavement
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4887; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094887 - 27 Apr 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 440
Abstract
Preventive maintenance (PM) is regarded as the most economical maintenance strategy for asphalt pavement, but the life cycle environmental impacts (LCEI) of different PM techniques have not yet been comprehensively assessed and compared, thus hindering sustainable PM planning. This study aims to comprehensively [...] Read more.
Preventive maintenance (PM) is regarded as the most economical maintenance strategy for asphalt pavement, but the life cycle environmental impacts (LCEI) of different PM techniques have not yet been comprehensively assessed and compared, thus hindering sustainable PM planning. This study aims to comprehensively estimate and compared the LCEI of five PM techniques then propose measures to reduce environmental impacts in PM design by using life cycle assessment (LCA), including fog seal with sand, micro-surfacing, composite seal, ultra-thin asphalt overlay, and thin asphalt overlay. Afterwards, ten kinds of LCEI categories and energy consumption of PM techniques were compared from the LCA phases, and inventory inputs perspectives, respectively. Results show that fog seal with sand and micro-surfacing can lower all LCEI scores by more than 50%. The environmental performance of five PM techniques provided by sensitivity analysis indicated that service life may not create significant impact on LCA results to some extent. Moreover, four PM combination plans were developed and compared for environmental performance, and results show that the PM plan only includes seal coat techniques that can reduce the total LCEI by 7–29% in pavement life. Increasing the frequency of seal coat techniques can make the PM plans more sustainable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Transport Infrastructures)
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Article
Impact Analysis Using Life Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Production from Primary Data
Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10171; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410171 - 09 Dec 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 478
Abstract
Road construction and maintenance have a great impact on the environment, owing to the huge volumes of resources involved. Consequently, current production procedures and technologies must be properly investigated, for identifying and quantifying the life cycle environmental impacts produced. In this paper, primary [...] Read more.
Road construction and maintenance have a great impact on the environment, owing to the huge volumes of resources involved. Consequently, current production procedures and technologies must be properly investigated, for identifying and quantifying the life cycle environmental impacts produced. In this paper, primary data, i.e., site-specific data directly collected or measured on a reference plant, are analyzed for calculating the impact of the production of a hot mix asphalt. The analysis is performed in a from “cradle to gate” approach to estimate the environmental burdens of the production process in an average plant, representative of the existing technology in Italy and Southern Europe. The research outcomes are useful to increase reliability in quantification of asphalt production impacts and the contribution of each component. The results represent a reference basis for producers, designers, and contractors in the decisional phases, identifying the most critical aspects in the current practice and the possible improvements for reducing impacts of road industries. In this regard, efficient energy technologies for reducing the production temperature (such as warm mix asphalt) and burned fuels are proven to assure relevant improvements in the environmental performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Transport Infrastructures)
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Article
Sustainable Urban Street Comprising Permeable Pavement and Bioretention Facilities: A Practice
Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 8288; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198288 - 08 Oct 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 739
Abstract
Roadside bioretention and permeable pavements have proven effectiveness in rainwater filtration and waterlogging mitigation, but conventional street design approach could not accommodate their work in conjunction. In this research, possible roadside facilities allowing water transmission from permeable pavements and bioretention to the pipe [...] Read more.
Roadside bioretention and permeable pavements have proven effectiveness in rainwater filtration and waterlogging mitigation, but conventional street design approach could not accommodate their work in conjunction. In this research, possible roadside facilities allowing water transmission from permeable pavements and bioretention to the pipe system are proposed. Hydraulic properties of the comprised elements were analyzed, including rainfall intensity, permeable pavements, soil layers and pipe systems. A transformation method was formulated to obtain a successive time-intensity formula from conventional design parameters to describe the rainfall behavior, and therefore the water retention capacity of the bioretention could be considered. A test section of 1.6 km combining permeable pavements and roadside bioretention was constructed, and its hydraulic performance was predicted based on the proposed design method and Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). The research results suggest that the bioretention facilities and permeable pavements cooperate well in the test section. In a light rain event, the proposed street has favorable performance in rainwater collection and filtration. In a relatively intense rainstorm event, the street collects and filters water in the initial stage, but will have similar hydraulic performance to a conventional street once the retention facilities are saturated. Thus, no reduction in diameters of drainage pipes from conventional designs is suggested in similar projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Transport Infrastructures)
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Article
The Bike-Sharing System as an Element of Enhancing Sustainable Mobility—A Case Study based on a City in Poland
Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3285; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083285 - 17 Apr 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 1855
Abstract
The bike-sharing system allows urban residents to rent a bike at one of the rental stations located in the city, use them for their journey, and return them to any other or the same station. In recent years, in many cities around the [...] Read more.
The bike-sharing system allows urban residents to rent a bike at one of the rental stations located in the city, use them for their journey, and return them to any other or the same station. In recent years, in many cities around the world, such systems were established to encourage their residents to use bikes as an element of enhancing sustainable mobility and as a good complement to travel made using other modes of transport. The main purpose of this article is to present the results of an analysis of the functioning of the bike-sharing system in Warsaw (Poland). Moreover, the article presents an analysis of the accessibility to individual stations. An important aspect is that the bike-sharing system has been popular among users and that more people use it. Therefore, the city should be provided with a dense network of conveniently located bike-sharing stations. Also, the quality of the bike-sharing system should be an adjustment to the user’s expectations. In connection with the above, the article also presents the results of the analysis of factors affecting bike-sharing system usage as well as the level of satisfaction connected with bike-sharing system usage. The results of the analysis showed that there is a strong positive correlation between these variables. The obtained results can be helpful for carrying out activities whose purpose is to increase the bike-sharing system usage as well as to increase the level of satisfaction connected with bike-sharing system usage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Transport Infrastructures)
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Article
Effect of Palm Oil Clinker (POC) Aggregate on the Mechanical Properties of Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) Mixtures
Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 2716; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072716 - 30 Mar 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1181
Abstract
Aggregate composition has a pivotal role in ensuring the quality of pavement materials. The use of waste materials to replace the aggregate composition of asphalt pavement leads to green, sustainable, and environmentally friendly construction, which ultimately preserves nature by reducing the need to [...] Read more.
Aggregate composition has a pivotal role in ensuring the quality of pavement materials. The use of waste materials to replace the aggregate composition of asphalt pavement leads to green, sustainable, and environmentally friendly construction, which ultimately preserves nature by reducing the need to harvest materials from natural sources. Using the Marshall mix design, the main objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of waste palm oil clinker (POC) as fine aggregates replacement on the properties of stone mastic asphalt (SMA) mixture. Six groups of asphalt mixtures were prepared using different percentages of palm oil clinker content (0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%). To determine the Marshall properties and select the optimum binder content, asphalt mixture samples with different percentages of asphalt binder content (5.0%, 5.5%, 6.0%, 6.5%, and 7.0%) were prepared for each group. The results showed that the palm oil clinker was appropriate for use as a fine aggregate replacement up to 100% in SMA mixture and could satisfy the mix design requirements in terms of Marshall stability, flow, quotient, and volumetric properties. However, the percentage of palm oil clinker replacement as fine aggregate has merely influenced the optimum binder content. Furthermore, there were improvements in the drain down, resilient modulus and indirect tensile fatigue performances of the SMA mixture. In conclusion, the use of POC as fine aggregates replacement in SMA mixture indicates a good potential to be commercialized in flexible pavement construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Transport Infrastructures)
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Article
Different Scenarios of Electric Mobility: Current Situation and Possible Future Developments of Fuel Cell Vehicles in Italy
Sustainability 2020, 12(2), 564; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12020564 - 11 Jan 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1448
Abstract
The diffusion of electric vehicles in Italy has started but some complications weight its spread. At present, hybrid technology is the most followed by users, due particularly to socioeconomic factors such as cost of investment and range anxiety. After a deep discussion of [...] Read more.
The diffusion of electric vehicles in Italy has started but some complications weight its spread. At present, hybrid technology is the most followed by users, due particularly to socioeconomic factors such as cost of investment and range anxiety. After a deep discussion of the Italian scenario, the aim of the paper is to recognize whether fuel cell technology may be an enabling solution to overcome pollution problems and respect for the environment. The opportunity to use fuel cells to store electric energy is quite fascinating—the charging times will be shortened and heavy passenger transport should be effortless challenged. On the basis of the present history and by investigating the available information, this work reports the current e-mobility state in Italy and forecasts the cities in which a fuel cell charging infrastructure should be more profitable, with the intention of granting a measured outlook on the plausible development of this actual niche market. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability of Transport Infrastructures)
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