Life Cycle Assessement of Reclaimed Asphalt Compared to Hot Mix Asphalt

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Engineering - Civil Engineering, grade: 3.0, University of Mauritius, language: English, abstract: This study is a Life Cycle Assessment which shows the implementation of RAP in HMA design compared to the conventional pavement in Mauritius.

Firstly, a thorough literature review was carried out which was supported by interviews from contractors and local authorities about the use of RAP and its implementation in the local context. The information concerning the use of HMA and its construction practices in Mauritius were obtained from local authorities through specifications. The data for RAP was obtained through literature as its practice in Mauritius is still not implemented. After processing the data, the software SimaPro was used to model both systems with a functional unit of 1 km and 4 m for the width of the single lane. Consequently, design 1 was modelled as conventional HMA and design 2 showed the use of 10 % of RAP in the wearing course with a system boundary consisting of the raw material acquisition, raw material processing, the construction, maintenance and the end of life phase but excluding the operation/use phase. The ReCiPE indicator was then used for the impact assessment which consists of the midpoint and endpoint indicators.