SESSION: SUSTAINABILITY & METRICS
June 18, 2014, 10:30am. Track A
STATE OF THE PRACTICE FOR SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT IN TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
Jeralee Anderson, Ph.D., P.E., Greenroads Foundation
EVALUATING SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE WITH INVEST FHWA’S SUSTAINABILITY RATING TOOL
Constance M. Hill Galloway, Ph.D., Environmental Protection Specialist, FHWA
GREEN DOT SUCCESS
Nedd Codd, Assistant Secretary, GreenDOT
DDOT: ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE
Lezlie Rupert, DDOT
SESSION: SUSTAINABILITY & METRICS
State of the Practice for Sustainable Materials Management in Transportation Projects
Jeralee Anderson, Ph.D., P.E., Greenroads Foundation
The Greenroads Rating System, a third-party sustainability metric for roadway projects, includes both mandatory and voluntary
best practices to encourage the proactive management of construction waste and related resource efficiency activities for
transportation projects. This presentation will explore the waste management and recycling rates of active and successful projects
pursuing Greenroads Certification as case studies by comparing them to benchmark data analyses for 105 projects in the United
States completed by Anderson & Muench (2013).
Jeralee Anderson is the Executive Director of Greenroads Foundation. She holds her doctorate in sustainability and civil
engineering from the University of Washington. Prior to launching Greenroads Foundation, Jeralee worked in a variety of structural,
geotechnical and construction engineering positions after receiving her undergraduate degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She
is a licensed professional engineer in Washington State and California.
State of the Practice for Materials
Management in Transportation Projects
Jeralee Anderson, Ph.D., P.E., LEED AP - Greenroads Foundation
Transportation Research Board Committee ADC60
Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Workshop
June 17, 2014 – New York City, New York
Transportation
projects produce
substantial
amounts of
construction
waste, but actual
amounts are
UNKNOWN.
Johnson, 2009
EPA, 2009
Construction Materials Recycling
Association, n.d.
Highway 35 Betterment, Mt. Hood, OR
Transportation is major contributor!
Roads and bridge waste ≈ 2x building waste
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From Cochran, 2006
Materials Consumption vs. Waste
 Rate of consumption is increasing annually
 Waste retention rates are no match for consumption
 No single source for transportation material data
 1.3 billion tons waste in 2002*
 Highest contributor = concrete (buildings, transport, other)
 1.4 trillion tons
 2nd highest contributor = asphalt concrete (transport)
 400 million tons
 3rd highest = wood and wood products (mostly buildings)
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Cochran, 2006 – 2002 appears to be best available data that includes transport waste estimates
How many tons of material can the average dump truck haul?
How far and where does it travel? And at what cost?
Dump trucks hauling dirt shore up levees in communities along the Red River near Fargo, ND
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Andrea Booher/FEMA, Wikimedia Commons
How We Can Manage the Unknowns
 Industry associations/NGOs take a leadership role
 Track and manage reporting statistics of consumption and waste
 Owners: add accountability requirements for contractors
 We suggest a per-project approach and project metrics
 We found in 120 projects (reviewed in 2011 and prior)
 Only 23 had a waste management plan (19%)
 Only 73% of WMPs had recycling and diversion strategies
 This is why Greenroads requires a CWMP
 56 registered projects in 7 states and 7 countries; 11 Certified
 Over $5.5 billion construction value
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Anderson, 2012; Greenroads Foundation, 2014
PR-6 Waste Management Plan
Goal
Create an accounting and management plan for road
construction waste materials
Requirements
Establish, implement, and maintain a formal Construction
and Demolition Waste Management Plan (CWMP) during
roadway construction
Documentation
Copy of contractor waste management plan
 We are interested in what happened to the existing materials
 Similar to credit CA-3 Site Recycling Plan
 Not all do both – why not?
SITE RECYCLING PLAN
General Contractor:
Project Name:
Site Recycling Coordinator:
Phone:
Debris Collection Agency:
Site Recycling/Diversion Goals:
Steps to inform contractors/subcontractors of Site Recycling Plan policies.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
C&D Materials Expected to be Generated and Proposed Diversion Method
The following charts identify materials expected to be generated by this project and the planned method for
diverting these materials from disposal as a waste.
Muench et al. 2011
Material
DECONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION PHASE
Quantity (units)
Diversion Method & Location
Handling Procedure
Material
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
Quantity (units)
Diversion Method & Location
Handling Procedure
Frequency of Achievement
Credit Title
ID
PR-6 Waste Management Plan
Achievement (%)
Classification
9% Typical (65 Projects)
28% Sustainable (40 Projects)
16% Overall (105 Projects)
CA-3 Site Recycling Plan
5% Typical
28% Sustainable
13% Overall
MR-2 Pavement & Structure Reuse
60% Typical
55% Sustainable
58% Overall
MR-4 Recycled Materials
35% Typical
38% Sustainable
36% Overall
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Anderson & Muench, 2013
City of Austin, TX
Todd Lane
Improvements
Pilot Project
$7.8 mil
A great example of
an owner-initiative
for waste
management.
Based on LEED
requirements for
buildings and
applied equally for
roadway projects.
Presidio Parkway Phase I
California Department of Transportation - $134.8 mil
PB/ARUP Joint Venture; CC Myers, R&L Brosamer Inc.
No formal CWMP, but City of San Francisco requires diversion of 75% minimum.
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Finishing the wearing course over cold-in-place recycled base.
City of San José, CA
Infrastructure
Maintenance
Division
Monterey Road
Reconstruction
$2.7 mil
Bid out two
construction
alternatives:
conventional
remove and replace
and cold-in-place
recycling (CIR).
CIR bid came in
23% under
estimate.
Bellingham, WA
Meador Kansas Ellis
Trail Project
$0.85 mil
Placing Poticrete
flatwork made with
400 salvaged toilets
Project Manager Freeman
Anthony, P.E., basks in
glory while dedicating a
commemorative toilet
seat to embed on this
innovative project.
Summary
 Transportation waste is unknown and unmeasured




Hard to manage unknown and unmeasured
Materials consumption outpaces diversion and recycling
Potential to improve accountability in simple ways
Plenty of opportunity to increase/incentivize reuse/recycling
 Sustainability tools can help incentivize BMPs
 Great waste management BMPs can apply on any project:
 Local agencies more often have waste strategy/goal
 State agencies more often have allowable recycling spec
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Takeways: Helpful Hints
 Adopt C&D specs from local and state building projects
 Set near term goals to characterize your waste stream
from transportation projects
 Set permissible or flexible specifications for
recycling/reuse or new materials
 Enforce quality control standards during reprocessing
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