AASHTO LAG-1-2012 LEANER AND GREENER SUSTAINABILITY AT WORK IN TRANSPORTATION.pdf

1、November 2012 Su Stainability at Work in t ran Sportation ii Leaner and Greener: Sustainability at Work in Transportation Dear Friends, Transportation is more than just highways, cars, trains, and buses. Transportation connects peopleto their jobs, to their communities, and to each other. Transporta

2、tion reaches across the nation to improve the economy and our quality of life. In 2001, AASHTO and FHW A created the Center for Environmental Excellence to promote environmental stewardship and encourage innovative ways to streamline the transportation project delivery process. In 2003, AASHTO publi

3、shed our Taking the High Road report, which chronicled the important contributions state transportation agencies make to society and the environment. We published a follow-up report, Above and Beyond in 2009 to document the additional environmental and social contributions of state DOTs projects and

4、 programs. This third report, Leaner and Greener, showcases the efforts transportation agenciesincluding DOTs, MPOs, and transit providersare undertaking to speed up project delivery and cut costs while protecting and even improving environmental resources. Through programmatic environmental solutio

5、ns, DOTs are moving away from “reinventing the wheel” for project-level environmental considerations. They are using systematic approaches to meet sustainability goalsnot just in project development, but during everyday maintenance of their systems as well. They are showing that such an approach res

6、ults in improved environmental outcomes and less cost to the taxpayer. The programs shown here are just a few of the many innovative and cost-saving strategies being deployed by transportation agencies across the nation to benefit society and the environment. John Horsley Executive Director Letter f

7、rom AASHTOs Executive Director Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.iii Leaner and Greener: Sustainability at Work in Transportation Dear Friends,

8、 Environmental stewardship has always been a major priority of the Federal Highway Administration (FHW A). And so it was a natural extension of our work to join with AASHTO in 2001 to create the Center for Environmental Excellence (Center). We applaud the Center for providing a national showcase and

9、 shining a light on sustainability best practices that benefit our environment, our communities, and our economy. This report examines a subject that is especially important to me: how we can speed project delivery, save money, and still protect and improve our environment. These principles are at t

10、he heart of the Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative we launched in 2009 along with our AASHTO partners. Warm-mix asphalt (WMA) is one of the technologies were advancing through Every Day Counts. It requires less fuel, results in lower emissions, and can extend the paving season in colder climates, whi

11、ch is extremely important as we continue our efforts to create jobs. Through EDC, we are working with states to encourage them to adopt WMA as a standard part of their paving work. Streamlining transportation projects is an important priority for the Obama administration, which falls right in line w

12、ith EDC. Programmatic agreements reduce or eliminate project and regulatory compliance unknowns, create new and more flexible standards, and provide a proactive and consistent approach to project delivery. FHW A is using programmatic agreements to save historic bridges before repair becomes fiscally

13、 impossible due to safety and structural concerns. With the use of programmatic agreements, FHW A is able to cut the time by more than half to repair these bridges. Rehabilitating these bridges extends their useful life in a sustainable way and has benefits to the community that far outweigh their f

14、unction as transportation facilities. Historic bridges have cultural and community significance in addition to serving as important transportation links. FHW A is currently rolling out webinars on rehabilitating historic bridges and producing programmatic agreements for their management, including t

15、he work of the Indiana agreement described in Chapter 3. A key to being successful is the ability to evaluate the both the process and the results. FHW A s new self-evaluation tool INVEST is a voluntary self-evaluation scoring system that enables transportation agencies to gauge their performance in

16、 adopting sustainability best practices grouped in three categoriessystem planning, project development, and operations and maintenance. By offering states a collection of best practices, INVEST really serves two purposes. First, it inspires them with workable solutions that allow them to incorporat

17、e sustainability into their transportation projects. And, second, it gives them a tool for measuring their progress. This tool can evaluate all the initiatives highlighted in Leaner and Greener, and we would like to see used for every project. Achieving sustainability in transportation is an ongoing

18、, collaborative process. The FHW A is proud to work alongside all our partners to advance sustainable transportation practices that serve us now and will serve us in the future. Victor M. Mendez Administrator Letter from FHWAs Administrator Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASH

19、TO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.v Leaner and Greener: Sustainability at Work in Transportation t able of Content S Introduct Ion What “Leaner and Greener” Means . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20、 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 c hapter one Leaner and Greener Solutions for Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 c hapter t Wo Sustainable Infrastructure Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21、 7 c hapter three Faster, Cheaper, and Better Project Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 c hapter F our Leaner and Greener Leadership Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 c hapter F Ive Conclusions . . . . . . .

22、. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Su St ainability at Work in t ran Spor tation Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may no

23、t be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.vi Leaner and Greener: Sustainability at Work in Transportation Acknowledgements AASHTO and the Center for Environmental Excellence gratefully acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for their contributions to th

24、is report: Mike Brady, California DOT Jeff Caster, Florida DOT Judy Gates, Maine DOT Julie Hunkins, North Carolina DOT Frank Pafko, Minnesota DOT Amy Phillips, Senior Editor, BNA Research and Custom Solutions Carol Lee Roalkvam, Washington State DOT Federal Highway Administration, with special thank

25、s to Shari Schaftlein, Bethany Bacher-Gresock, Susan Jones, Richard Taylor, Mike Culp, Tom Everett, and other staff members Federal Transit Administration, with special thanks to Antoinette Quagliata High Street Consulting Group, with special thanks to Joe Crossett and Rob Padgette RBA Group, with s

26、pecial thanks to Andras Fekete Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.1 While working to provide the nation with safe, efficient, and reliable means

27、 of transporta- tion, state departments of transportation (DOTs) are faced with the challenges of filling the widening gap between transportation investment needs and transportation funding, while balancing community concerns, and protecting environmental quality. To successfully meet these challeng

28、es, DOTs are using sustainable practices to become leaner and greener. Leaders in transportation know that, in addition to meeting mobility and safety needs, transportation investments must balance three important objectives:_ Fiscal responsibility;_ Community quality of life; and_ Commitment to a b

29、etter environment. The idea of balancing economic, environmental, and community objectives is sometimes called sustainability or meeting the triple bottom line; leaner and greener also has the same meaning. What does leaner and greener look like? This report provides many examples, and the Kansas De

30、partment of Transportations (KDOT) investment in ecologically friendly mowing practices offers a simple illustration. Thanks to an agreement with the Audubon Society of Kansas and other groups, KDOTs mowing policies are promoting re-growth of prairie habitat along many of the 146,000 acres of land a

31、djacent to the states highways while saving the DOT about $1.5 million a year in lower fuel costs and enhancing road users safety. INtr oduct Io N What “Leaner and Greener” Means Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not

32、be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.2 Leaner and Greener: Sustainability at Work in Transportation The basic elements of leaner and greener transportation investments do not change from state to state; but the individual solutions agencies choose are diverse. For ex

33、ample, part of the North Carolina Department of Transportations solution is cost-efficient low-impact bridge replacement designs that have decreased bridge replacement time by as much as four years and typically shrink project costs by 25 percent while supporting water quality goals. In Minnesota, t

34、he DOTs solution includes smart snow and ice removal practices to reduce salt usage and associated winter maintenance costs while reducing impacts to the environment and enhancing safety. Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof,

35、 may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.3 To further exemplify what being leaner and greener means for transportation agencies, this report outlines a variety of practices and programs being implemented in transporta- tion agencies across the nation that are si

36、multaneously cutting costs, helping the environ- ment, and strengthening communities. The Federal Highway Administration (FHW A) supports state DOTs in their efforts to become leaner and greener through several initiatives, including its new Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool (I

37、NVEST). INVEST is a voluntary self-evaluation scoring system that enables transportation agencies to gauge their performance in adopt- ing sustainability best practices grouped in three categoriessystem planning, project development, and operations and maintenance. Each of the three categories is sc

38、ored independently. INVEST allows DOTs to assign a bronze-, silver-, gold-, or platinum-level status to their initiatives, based on sustainability characteristics of the project or program being evaluated. DOTs can use the results of an INVEST evaluation to support implemen- tation of sustainable pr

39、actices in pending project decisions or to identify potential changes to business processes. Many of the sustainable highway practices presented by INVEST promote cost savings and benefits to social, envi- ronmental, and economic systems. For example, items such as quality construction, designing pa

40、vement for long life, life- cycle concepts, recycled materials, and improved safety can all show an overall lower cost as well as benefits to society. The goal of INVEST is to encourage sustainable principles to be applied to the largest extent practicable on highway proj- ects. Some of the agencies

41、 that are already piloting INVEST include Minnesota, North Carolina, and Ohio. c hapter o Ne Leaner and Greener s o Lu tions for t r ansportation Autumn Parkway in Minnesota. Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be r

42、eproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.4 Leaner and Greener: Sustainability at Work in Transportation Building a l eaner (and g reener) Bridge in Cleveland In February 2009, the Ohio Department of Transportation initiated the first of two projects designed to replace the a

43、ging steel truss bridge that carries Interstate 90 over the Cuyahoga River Valley and into Clevelands central business district. The first Innerbelt project, developing a new westbound bridge adjacent to the existing bridge, demonstrates how Ohio DOT is working to make its major transportation inves

44、tments leaner and greener by reducing cost, maximizing benefits, and conserving resources. The Innerbelt projects design and construction team found several ways to cut project costs while conserving resources and getting the bridge built faster, including: Smaller Bridge FootprintBy using a creativ

45、e bridge design that featured a modified alignment from the one originally proposed, the project team was able to reduce the amount of earthwork needed during construction by about 35,000 cubic yards and decrease the amount of steel and other materials needed to build the bridge; Construction Vehicl

46、e Fuel SavingsBy using construction vehicles with greater load-carrying capacity, more than 28,559 gallons of diesel fuel were saved during construction; resulting in a savings of about $93,000; 1 Carbon Emissions ReductionsBy reducing fuel usage during earthmoving, the project saved more than 337 m

47、etric tons of CO 2emissions during construction. Materials RecyclingThe demolition debris from the project was processed and sorted. More than half of all materials were recycled including more than 4.1 million pounds of steelabout the weight of 1,028 average-size sedans! Based on these and other le

48、aner and greener attributes, Ohio DOT has used FHWAs INVEST sustainability self-assessment tool to give the project a silver rating. 1 Cleveland Innerbelt Project, Sustainability Summary, Dec 2011; U.S. Department of Energy national average diesel fuel cost of $3.27/gallon. Cleveland Innerbelt Bridg

49、e. Photos courtesy of Ohio DOT . Copyright 2012, Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO. All Rights Reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.5 Leaner and Greener: Sustainability at Work in Transportation The initiatives profiled in this report show how transportation agencies are striving to become leaner and greener in all aspects of what they do, from operations and mainte- nance activities to project