Life cycle assessment as decision-support in choice of road corridor: case study and stakeholder perspectives

Abstract

Use of life cycle assessment (LCA) in choice of road corridor could reduce environmental impacts of traffic and infrastructure. This paper explores how the LCA model LICCER, designed to compare life cycle climate impact and energy use of alternative road corridors, fulfills practitioners’ requirements concerning data availability and usefulness for decision-making. Results are based on a case study where the model was applied to a Swedish road reconstruction project and a workshop with potential users of the model. In the case study, the shorter construction alternatives had the lowest traffic related impacts and the highest infrastructure related impacts. Earthworks, soil stabilization, and pavement contributed most to infrastructure related impacts. For the stakeholders, the LICCER model was considered useful because it includes both traffic and infrastructure, includes default data that the user can replace by project specific data, identifies possible improvements, and presents results relative to a reference alternative. However, the model could be improved by including further nation specific default data, different traffic scenarios depending on the road corridor, more detailed traffic scenarios, and an uncertainty assessment of the model output. These findings may be useful in the development and improvement of LCA models and when evaluating the suitability of existing models for use in early planning.