Sustainability In Civil Engineering

• Introduction

If we think just in terms of Europe, the transports are responsible for um quarter of the total greenhouse gas emissions. Among all the types of transports the road transports is the one who produces the biggest amount of CO2. To make the figures even more worrying, between 1990 and 2010 the emissions from road transport increased almost 23% [1]

This is a mater that has been worrying the population for several years. Therefore, a lot of investigation is being made in order to find a solution for this problem. It is clear that this is not a one-person responsibility, thus the solution or solutions have to arise from a team effort of several disciplines of science. From mechanical engineering (in building more efficient motors or cars), passing through civil engineering (by planning the roads or finding solutions for a sustainable urbanism) to social sciences (because it is important to understand the human behaviour in order the find the optimum solution).

In this paper we will focus on the solutions and proposals from a civil engineering point of view. It will start by attempting to bring a definition to Sustainable Transport. Then the solutions will be presented from a big scale, urban and infrastructures, to a small scale by presenting some applications. Finally the need of multidisciplinary teams on civil engineering projects will be discussed.

• What is Sustainable Transport?

Sustainability can be seen as an arrangement that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." [2]

Transport sustainability does not seam to have a standard definition. However, it is clear that for it to be effective has to take into consideration the economical, s...

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...es, however, as shown on the M25 project it can actually bring economic advantages. Specially when considering the life-cycle of all the components.

From the cycling and walking example we can conclude that besides civil engineering solutions there is also the need to educate the population and help it to adapt to these greener mode of transportation.

It is also evident that nowadays several of the solutions are just possible with the use of informatics, like the ITS solutions.

However, the biggest learning taken from this paper is that civil engineering definitely needs to work with other sciences to make any proposed solution to work in a global way. Each population has its own culture, so any proposal needs to be “custom made” for the specific location and population. One solution does not fit us all. This makes civil engineering even more exciting and creative.