All of the content of the old PavementCouncil.org web site is preserved in the new site. Some of the imported content is not in a format that supports tags, so we are going through the older posts to make sure they are readily found through the tag cloud. The old web site included links to two studies that are of interest because of what they say about the long term, life cycle benefits of maintaining pavements.
Use of pavement preservation treatments extends the remaining service life of asphalt concrete pavements. These treatments typically include spray applied surface seals, thin overlays, crack treatments, chip seals, slurry seal/micro surfacing, surface recycling and others. Each preservation treatment reduces damaging effects of aging and deterioration of the pavement surface layer and helps protect the integrity of the underlying pavement structure. If proactive preservation treatments are not used, pavements deteriorate more rapidly and require major rehabilitation with structural overlays or reconstruction much earlier.
New construction, major rehabilitation, thin HMA overlay, and HIR have the highest energy use and range from 5,000 to 10,000 BTU/yd2– yr (6.3-12.6 MJ/m2-yr). Chip seals, slurry seals, micro-surfacing, and crack filling utilize lower amounts of energy per year of extended pavement life and range from 1,000 to 2,500 BTU/yd2– yr (1.3-3.3 MJ/m2-yr). Crack seals and fog seals use the least amount of energy per year of extended pavement life at less than 1,000 BTU/yd2-yr (1.3MJ/m2-yr).
To minimize energy use and GHG emissions over the life of a pavement, all preservation treatments should be utilized as appropriate to the maximum extent possible for the existing pavement conditions.
…we have conducted a comparison of the upstream environmental impacts of refined coal-tar sealed, asphalt sealed, and unsealed concrete parking lots. This analysis is limited to estimating the “upstream” environmental impacts – only those associated with the manufacturing, and installation of parking lots.