The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) is dedicated to maintaining quality roadways in a sustainable manner. MTO has implemented pavement preservation strategies in recent years to maximize cost savings in repair operations and maintain pavement condition. Pavement preservation treatments are considered sustainable as they improve pavement quality and durability, and extend pavement service life, while reducing energy consumption and green house gas (GHG) emissions. Pavement preservation is a proactive, planned strategy that extends the life of the pavement, providing a cost effective solution for pavement management. This paper outlines the various pavement preservation treatments utilized by MTO to achieve sustainability. These preservation treatments include: crack sealing, slurry seal, micro-surfacing, chip seal, ultra-thin bonded friction course, fiber modified chip seal, hot mix patching and hot in-place recycling (HIR). Pavement sustainability is quantified by comparing the energy consumption and GHG emissions generated using the PaLate software for various pavement preservation strategies, against typical rehabilitation and reconstruction treatments. This paper presents the benefits of pavement preservation by considering the service life of each treatment and calculating the associated energy consumption and GHG emissions per service year. The results indicate that pavement preservation strategies provide a significant reduction in energy use and GHG emissions when compared to traditional rehabilitation and reconstruction treatments. Although pavement preservation is proven to be a cost effective solution, there are numerous challenges and barriers to overcome. Some of the challenges and solutions are presented in the paper as well as the strategies to promote pavement preservation for sustainability.
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