Pavement LCA - Quick Start


This Quick Start document will get you acquainted with the Pavement LCA’s basic operations and up and running quickly. For a detailed discussion on using the software, see the Help utility, Basic Application Operation.


Creating or Opening a New Project

Immediately below the toolbar you will see the Pavement LCA Tree Control window, which operates as a hierarchical viewer of all inputs into the software.  Within the Tree Control window you will see the Pavement LCA Root node highlighted.  With your mouse pointer on the highlighted Root node, right click to activate a new vertical menu list (also referred to as the right click menu).  Click on “New Project” in the right click menu to open the “Add Project” dialog box. Alternatively, you can click on the “New” button on the far left side of the toolbar to open the “Add Project” dialog box.


The “Add Project” Dialog

Here you are asked to enter some general information about the project to be modeled.  You can either navigate through the dialog box using your tab key, or simply use your mouse pointer to toggle various radio buttons or enter text where appropriate.  Note that you must enter a project name, project location, project Lifespan, and Average Distances from Site to Landfill and Material Plant to Site; all other information, including annual operating energy values, is optional. 

Click on the Construction Equipment tab, and load the Construction Equipment table with either the default database values or the saved library values from your hard disk.  Data for individual pieces of equipment for this project can be customized here.

Click on the Material Transportation tab, and load the Material Transportation table from the database.  Fill in the distances and modes of transportation used to supply the project with materials.  Each material has its own data and should be entered before proceeding.

When you are finished adding project information, click the “OK” button to save the changes and close the “Add Project” dialog.  A new Project [P] level node with the title you gave the project will be added to the Tree Control immediately under the Root node.


Defining an Assembly or Roadway Structure

To define a roadway, right click on the Project [P] level node to activate the right click menu and select “Add Assembly” from the menu.  A listing of two assembly groups will appear: Roadways, and Extra Basic Materials. Select an assembly group to display the assembly group submenu, then select the assembly of interest to you.

An “Add Assembly” dialog will appear for the assembly that you selected.  The flashing cursor will automatically be placed in the “Name” box.  Each assembly must be given a name; otherwise no data input is possible.  After entering an assembly name (e.g., Highway 1), tab to each of the data input boxes or, using your mouse, place the cursor in each to describe the roadway’s geometry and attributes.


Defining a Maintenance and Rehabilitation Schedule 


In the Add Roadway dialog, click on the Rehabilitation Schedule tab.  Click the Add button to add a scheduled maintenance or rehabilitation activity.  Enter all the information for the activity, including the scheduled year, expected lifespan, type, name, affected road elements, % of element covered, and the material addition/removals for the activity.

If the “Add Assembly” dialog has been closed, in the Tree Control right click the new assembly node to display the assembly object menu and select “Modify” to open the “Modify Assembly” dialog.


Continue using the “Add Assembly” menu as necessary to complete the roadway design.

Generating Project Results

To view either the absolute inventory results – Energy Consumption, Air Emissions, Water Emissions, Land Emissions, and Resource Use – or the eight aggregated summary impact measures – Fossil Fuel Consumption, Acidification Potential, Global Warming Potential, Human Health Criteria, Ozone Depletion Potential, Smog Potential, and Eutrophication Potential – as a graph or table, you simply do the following:


View Bill of Material Quantities

To view the bill of materials for a project, right click on the [P] project level node, then do the following:


Comparing Projects

The Pavement LCA is equipped with a separate utility for comparing the results of two or more project designs across the eight summary measures. From a reporting perspective, all Pavement LCA results are compiled and accessed at the project level; therefore if you are interested in comparing two or more assemblies, rather than complete designs, you must input each assembly you want to compare as an individual project.

To compare two or more projects, do the following:

By now you should be familiar with the basic operations of Pavement LCA. For further details please see the Help utility.