Sustainable Material Selection for Regional Australian Infrastructure
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65904/3083-3604.2026.02.04Keywords:
Sustainable infrastructure, reinforced concrete pipe, HDPE, Asphalt, glass aggregate, lifecycle analysis, AHP, carbon emissionsAbstract
As infrastructure development accelerates globally, engineers are increasingly required to balance structural performance, cost, and environmental responsibility in material selection. This study evaluates the sustainability of conventional and alternative infrastructure materials using a lifecycle-based multi-criteria framework. Reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe were compared for stormwater systems, while conventional asphalt was evaluated against asphalt incorporating recycled glass aggregate for pavements. A weighted Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model was implemented under three decision scenarios: (i) sustainability-led control (aligned with SDGs 11 and 12), (ii) current engineer priorities, and (iii) developer priorities. For stormwater applications, RCP achieved overall preference scores of approximately 83% (control), 67% (engineer), and 65% (developer), consistently outperforming HDPE. For pavements, asphalt with recycled glass aggregate achieved preference scores of 57% (control), 77% (engineer), and 76% (developer). All AHP matrices satisfied the consistency requirement (CR ≤ 0.10). The findings demonstrate that newer materials are not inherently superior and that material preference is highly sensitive to stakeholder weighting structures. The study highlights the importance of transparent, scenario-based multi-criteria evaluation for sustainable infrastructure decision-making in the Australian context.
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