Incorporating Road User Costs into Integrated Life-Cycle Cost Analyses for Infrastructure Sustainability: A Case Study on Sr-91 Corridor Improvement Project (Ca)

Eul-Bum Lee, David K. Thomas and Douglas Alleman
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Eul-Bum Lee: Graduate School of Engineering Mastership, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Ku, Pohang 37673, Korea
David K. Thomas: SR-91 Corridor Improvement Project, Riverside County Transportation Commission, CA 92879, USA
Douglas Alleman: Construction Engineering and Management, Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80203, USA

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-23

Abstract: Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a decision-making tool that allows governing agencies the ability to assess several long-term alternative investment options. This paper presents a LCCA analysis process which integrates the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) program, RealCost (a road user cost calculation program), the FHWA-endorsed Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS) and Caltrans specific design tools (CalFP and CalAC), into the existing Caltrans LCCA process (a modified version of the FHWA LCCA process). In using tools backed by the FHWA and validated through previous agency use, the presented process has a potential to be replicated on urban corridor improvement projects across the US while aiding agencies in achieving economical sustainability throughout the infrastructure maintenance phases. This paper also fills the gap identified by Ozbay et al. in 2004, incorporating road user cost calculations into the LCCA process. Validation was achieved through the execution of the recently completed $1.4 B US California SR-91 Corridor Improvement Project. The SR-91 team used the presented tool to choose one of the two alternatives (maintain HOV SR-91 lane and add I-15 HOV lane using long-life Portland Cement Concrete Pavement or add Express Lane to SR-91 and I-15 using long-life Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement and Asphalt Concrete Pavement), equating to an estimated life-cost savings of $32 M.

Keywords: integrated life cycle cost analysis; sustainable corridor improvement; road user cost; schedule analysis; agency cost; CA4PRS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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