Establishing a Framework for Analyzing Asphalt Pavement Sustainability.

Much of America's civil infrastructure is in dire need of improvement. Electricity transmission grids, water distribution systems, bridges, and roads require modernization to restore functionality. Many studies support this need. The critical issue is how to meet this need of restoring and improving infrastructure while promoting an ethic of sustainability. Road construction and rehabilitation represent an often overlooked but important opportunity to implement energy-efficient technologies and techniques that reduce energy consumption, mitigate climate change impacts by reducing emissions, and promote sustainable resource consumption. We need a sustainable strategy to modernize our roads. Ongoing research at the University of Wisconsin-Madision is focused on identifying, testing, and validating alternative pavement technologies that may sigificantly diminish energy consumption through the reduction of material manufacturing and construction temperatures. Initial efforts have focused on developing quantitative lifecycle analysis tools for assessing pavement sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]