Decarbonizing Construction Material Supply Chains: An Innovative Approach to Intermodal Transportation

Abstract

The transportation of construction materials is a crucial part of the construction material supply chain and a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. In Austria, for example, around 11% of the goods transported in 2020 were mineral products, such as glass, cement, lime, and plaster - much of which are demanded by the construction industry. Some of those goods are bulk materials that are well suited for high-capacity means of transport, e.g., trains. However, several system characteristics of the railroad severely limit its use on the last mile to the customer. Here, materials need to be delivered in a timely and efficient manner to ensure that projects stay on schedule and within budget. An eligible solution for this is intermodal transportation, which couples the benefits of efficient rail haulage with flexible road haulage. Nevertheless, conventionally used 30-foot silo containers hinder high utilization of trains due to weight limit excess of trucks. Therefore, a novel 22.5-foot container design for the transportation of cement was introduced recently that enables a high-capacity utilization of trucks and trains. In this article, we present the environmental impact of its use in construction material transportation by quantifying greenhouse gas emissions of an exemplary use case in the Austrian construction industry. Results show emission mitigation potentials of 75% to 93%, depending on several parameters. This article contributes to the scientific literature by bringing evidence on emission reduction potentials in the construction material supply chain and elaborating on the determining factors.