Traffic Noise – Best Practice Guide - Technical Report

In recent years, knowledge about the health effects of traffic noise has grown substantially. Many studies have found that long-term exposure to traffic noise is associated with various health impacts such as sleep disturbance, cardiovascular disease and depression. While there remain knowledge gaps concerning the risk for particular noise profiles, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that a large proportion of people living within major urban centres is at risk due to excessive noise level [...]

Reducing the Life Cycle Carbon Footprint of Pavements - Technical Report

This report reviews innovations reported to reduce the carbon footprint of pavements and contains a critical review of the assessment of carbon footprint of pavements. There are numerous other environmental indicators for road pavements, but these were outside the scope of this report which focuses only on the carbon footprint. The strategic objectives established for the working group were as follows: review field feedback on recent innovations (products, equipment) which contribute [...]

Green Paving Solutions and Sustainable Pavement Materials - Technical Report

This report summarizes the current state-of-the practice for sustainable pavement techniques and the incentives used to encourage their use. Green paving solutions were identified in addition to identification of barriers to their wider implementation. Information contained in this report is based on a literature review and a questionnaire and survey of 42 representatives from 20 countries across the world. Sustainable pavement techniques can be incorporated into pavements from the pavement design [...]

Best Practice Guide to Air Quality in Relation to Road Operations - Technical Report

Air pollution linked to road transport has received significant political, media and public attention since the mid 2010s. However, despite improvements in vehicle efficiencies over past decades, emissions from vehicles still contribute significantly to concentrations of air pollutants above standards in many cities around the world. The European Environmental Agency noted that:  Road transport remains an important source of some of the most harmful air pollutants. In particular, road transport [...]

Refinement of PIARC’s International Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Road Infrastructure - Technical Report

Climate change will have significant impacts on the design, construction, maintenance and operation of global road infrastructure. IPCC projections estimate that the Earth will become warmer, some regions will become wetter overall and some will become drier, sea levels will rise and storm surge height will increase, snow cover and extent of sea ice will reduce, and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events will increase. This in turn results in significant global and regional challenges [...]