How concrete pavements contribute to a reduction of fuel consumption

Following the release of our infographic "Concrete Pavements make roads more sustainable", EUPAVE's working group on Environmental Strategy has decided to release fact sheets focusing on its different items. The first document looked deeper into the high albedo effect. 

The topic of the second fact sheet is “Less Fuel Consumption”.

Fuel consumption is not only influenced by the vehicle but also by the pavement it is driving on. The factors related to the surface of the pavement are the evenness, the surface texture and the deflection. While texture and evenness can be made the same for asphalt and concrete roads, this is not the case for deflection.

On Wednesday 14th October, EUPAVE held at Hôtel Le Châtelain in Brussels its 5th workshop on Best Practices in Concrete Paving. The theme for this year was “Concrete Pavement Preservation”.

Initially planned in March 2020, the workshop had to be rescheduled due to the sanitary crisis.

EUPAVE then decided to combine both a physical (limited to 10 persons) and an online event by broadcasting the event live. Attended by around 50 participants, the workshop/webinar gathered six experts in concrete paving.

EUPAVE was invited to participate in DG GROW’s workshop, as part of the European Week of Cities and Regions, on 22 October 2020 (11:30 -13:00). This year, the European Week of Regions and Cities was spread over three consecutive weeks, each dedicated to one timely topic: Empowering Citizens, Cohesion & Cooperation, and Green Europe. The workshop took place in the week dedicated to Green Europe. It focused on the topic of sustainable infrastructure with a special attention to the public procurement phase and the possibilities of using sustainable criteria in public tenders.

ASCP has released its second Pavement Note for decision makers for major road pavement projects. The document highlights eight key areas in which concrete pavements provide measurable tangible benefits when compared to asphalt pavements, including CO2, fuel savings, recycled materials use, albedo reduction, noise performance and recycled materials use – the main conclusions being:

“Concrete pavements typically comprise 20% or more recycled materials, demonstrate a lower environmental impact over long lives, exhibit low noise, reduce fuel consumption (and CO2), reduce lighting costs, reduce heat island impacts, absorb half of the CO2 generated in cement production, and increase corridor resilience during extreme weather events”
The document aims to provide an objective review of sustainability benefits of concrete pavements and is supported by 27 detailed references.

This Pavement Note may be of interest to colleagues in the following fields:

• Environmental
• Sustainability
• Whole of life decision makers

These next 2 webinars in the Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech) series are ideal for DOT engineers, city/county planners, and safety managers.

• Tuesday 17 November, 12 Noon (CST) on “Life Cycle Cost Analysis and Pavement Design”
• Tuesday 15 December, 12 Noon (CST) on “Concrete Pavement Thickness Design and Slab Geometry”

All CP Tech webinars provide attendees with technical / educational programs that provide insights as well as real-world application experience.

The American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) VIRTUAL 57th Annual Meeting (A.M.) REGISTRATION WEBSITE is NOW OPEN! The theme is “Essential Every Day”—along with the essential nature of infrastructure construction, rehabilitation, and preservation.