IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i6p5066-d1095772.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

LCA of Different Construction Choices for a Double-Track Railway Line for Sustainability Evaluations

Author

Listed:
  • Clara Celauro

    (Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Andrea Cardella

    (Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy)

  • Marco Guerrieri

    (DICAM (Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering), University of Trento, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy)

Abstract

The international commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in the next few decades has oriented human activities towards the preservation of natural and non-renewable resources. In this context, a great research effort has been devoted to the search for sustainable solutions for the infrastructure construction sector, based on a thorough assessment of the environmental impact (EI). In this regards, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is considered one of the main components of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and, for a comprehensive analysis, all the costs incurred by stakeholders during the useful life of the infrastructure should also be taken into account, applying the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methodology. So far, there is a lack of combined LCA and LCC analyses of railway projects to support a proper sustainable decision-making process at a project level. Therefore, this study aimed to contributed to this topic by determining the environmental effect and related costs of different planning and construction choices in terms of material and maintenance strategies. For this purpose, first, an LCA of typical railway infrastructures with a ballasted track was developed. The case study considered two different functional units of a double-track railway line: 1 km of embankment section and 1 km of a cut section, in straight alignment. After defining five alternative railway infrastructure scenarios with different materials (virgin or recycled material) and construction methods (e.g., lime stabilization), two different railway track maintenance approaches were analysed. SimaPro was used to analyse the case study, and the results were compared with those obtained using the PaLATE software, suitably adapted for use in the railway sector. Finally, a cost analysis was carried out using Life Cycle Cost (LCC) methodology for all the scenarios analysed. The results obtained in terms of EI and related costs of each scenario provide useful information, allowing a sustainable planning approach: as a general result, the initial construction phase always involves the larger part of the total environmental impact while the material production is the most polluting phase, reaching percentages always higher than 50% of the total.

Suggested Citation

  • Clara Celauro & Andrea Cardella & Marco Guerrieri, 2023. "LCA of Different Construction Choices for a Double-Track Railway Line for Sustainability Evaluations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5066-:d:1095772
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5066/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5066/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosalie Arendt & Till M. Bachmann & Masaharu Motoshita & Vanessa Bach & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2020. "Comparison of Different Monetization Methods in LCA: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-39, December.
    2. Giuseppe Sollazzo & Sonia Longo & Maurizio Cellura & Clara Celauro, 2020. "Impact Analysis Using Life Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Production from Primary Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tiago Ramos da Silva & Bruna Moura & Helena Monteiro, 2023. "Life Cycle Assessment of Current Portuguese Railway and Future Decarbonization Scenarios," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Marinella Giunta, 2023. "Trends and Challenges in Railway Sustainability: The State of the Art regarding Measures, Strategies, and Assessment Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Daniele Soraggi & Gabriele Ivano D’Amato, 2024. "The Limitations of EMSs in Comparison with the SDGs When Considering Infrastructure Sustainability: The Case of the Terzo Valico Dei Giovi, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-22, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gemina Quest & Rosalie Arendt & Christian Klemm & Vanessa Bach & Janik Budde & Peter Vennemann & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2022. "Integrated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Power and Heat Supply for a Neighborhood: A Case Study of Herne, Germany," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.
    2. Kledja Canaj & Andi Mehmeti & Julio Berbel, 2021. "The Economics of Fruit and Vegetable Production Irrigated with Reclaimed Water Incorporating the Hidden Costs of Life Cycle Environmental Impacts," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, September.
    3. Ayşe Bayazıt Subaşı & Elçin Filiz Taş, 2023. "Single Score Environmental Performances of Roof Coverings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Ewelina Olba-Zięty & Jakub Jan Zięty & Mariusz Jerzy Stolarski, 2023. "External Environmental Costs of Solid Biomass Production against the Legal and Political Background in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-27, May.
    5. Anda Ligia Belc & Adrian Ciutina & Raluca Buzatu & Florin Belc & Ciprian Costescu, 2021. "Environmental Impact Assessment of Different Warm Mix Asphalts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    6. Mulian Zheng & Wang Chen & Xiaoyan Ding & Wenwu Zhang & Sixin Yu, 2021. "Comprehensive Life Cycle Environmental Assessment of Preventive Maintenance Techniques for Asphalt Pavement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, April.
    7. Michael R. Gruber & Bernhard Hofko, 2023. "Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Recycled Asphalt Pavement Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Svetlana Zenchenko & Wadim Strielkowski & Luboš Smutka & Tomáš Vacek & Yana Radyukova & Vladislav Sutyagin, 2022. "Monetization of the Economies as a Priority of the New Monetary Policy in the Face of Economic Sanctions," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, March.
    9. Alberto Bezama & Nora Mittelstädt & Daniela Thrän & Fritz Balkau, 2021. "Trends and Challenges in Regional Life Cycle Management: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    10. Giovanni Leonardi & Federica Suraci, 2022. "A 3D-FE Model for the Rutting Prediction in Geogrid Reinforced Flexible Pavements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Bojan Matić & Stanislav Jovanović & Milan Marinković & Siniša Sremac & Dillip Kumar Das & Željko Stević, 2021. "A Novel Integrated Interval Rough MCDM Model for Ranking and Selection of Asphalt Production Plants," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-20, January.
    12. Patricia Schneider-Marin & Anne Winkelkotte & Werner Lang, 2022. "Integrating Environmental and Economic Perspectives in Building Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-27, April.
    13. Walter J. V. Vermeulen & Pim R. Croes & Larissa van der Feen, 2023. "Piloting Oiconomy Pricing: First experiences of producers applying full cost sustainability assessment of products," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4924-4937, November.
    14. Niccolò Caramanico & Giuseppe Di Florio & Maria Camilla Baratto & Viviana Cigolotti & Riccardo Basosi & Elena Busi, 2021. "Economic Analysis of Hydrogen Household Energy Systems Including Incentives on Energy Communities and Externalities: A Case Study in Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    15. Abdalrhman Milad & Ali Mohammed Babalghaith & Abdulnaser M. Al-Sabaeei & Anmar Dulaimi & Abdualmtalab Ali & Sajjala Sreedhar Reddy & Munder Bilema & Nur Izzi Md Yusoff, 2022. "A Comparative Review of Hot and Warm Mix Asphalt Technologies from Environmental and Economic Perspectives: Towards a Sustainable Asphalt Pavement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-23, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5066-:d:1095772. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.