A review of environmental impacts of winter road maintenance
Review article, 2019

The need for winter road maintenance (WRM) is changing in cold regions due to climate change. How the different modes of WRM will contribute to future overall emissions from infrastructure is therefore of great interest to road owners with a view to a more sustainable, low-carbon future. In the quest for near-zero-emissions transport, all aspects of the transport sector need to be accounted for in the search for possible mitigation of emissions. This study used 35 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2018 to map available information on the environmental impacts and effect of WRM and reveal any research gaps. The articles were categorized according to their research theme and focus. They were found to focus mainly on the local effects of WRM with emphasis on effects on water. Of the reviewed works, 27 contain information related to the environmental effects of deicers on a local level while five focused on global impact, which was mainly caused by fuel consumption. Only two articles took a holistic look at the system to identify emission sources and the effectiveness of possible changes in operations methods or material selection. In conclusion, WRM would benefit from further research to understand how it affects the natural environment in regions with a cold climate. Furthermore, a life-cycle approach could reveal ways to mitigate emissions through effectively comparing possible changes in the system without shifting the problem to other aspects of road transport.

Life cycle assessment

road salt

De-icer

Emissions

Environmental impact

Winter road maintenance

Author

H. Vignisdottir

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Babak Ebrahimi

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Technology

G. K. Booto

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Reyn O'Born

University of Agder

H. Brattebø

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Holger Wallbaum

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Technology

R. A. Bohne

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Cold Regions Science and Technology

0165-232X (ISSN)

Vol. 158 143-153

Subject Categories

Other Environmental Engineering

Environmental Management

Climate Research

DOI

10.1016/j.coldregions.2018.10.013

More information

Latest update

11/3/2019