New Impact Estimator for Highways

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, with the support of the Cement Association of Canada, has released a new version of the Impact Estimator for Highways, a free software package developed for North American roadway designers. Version 2 includes an enhanced composite products library module, 100 new sample projects, and updated electricity and truck transport profiles. The software allows transportation engineers and roadway designers to easily measure the environmental impact of Canadian regional roadway designs, providing environmental LCA results for the materials manufacturing, roadway construction, and maintenance lifecycle stages.

Users can create custom roadway designs, or draw from a library of 144 existing designs. The software includes a large equipment and materials database and the flexibility to specify unique pavement systems and a host of user specified concrete mix designs.

The software allows for quick and easy comparisons of multiple design options over a range of expected roadway lifespans.

Version 2 includes the following enhancements and updates:

• New TRACI 2.1 impact characterisation methods and equivalency measures as advocated by the US EPA
• Enhanced composite products library
• New pavement vehicle interaction module based on the latest research from the Concrete Sustainability Hub at MIT
• 96 new sample projects for Montreal and Quebec City roadway designs
• Updated purchased electricity profiles
• Updated transportation by truck profiles

Visit http://www.athenasmi.org/ to download the software and for more information about the enhanced package.

Adapted from press release by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/11022015/new-impact-estimator-for-highways-316/