A framework to quantify the economic impact of changing the road pavement standard and related municipal bylaws on housing affordability in cold weather regions

Abstract

Jurisdictions in winter regions impose restrictions on asphalt paving of neighbourhood roadways based on severity of cold weather. These limitations are imposed mainly to avoid the inadequate compaction of asphalt that results in poor performance of roads. Paving restrictions during the weather fluctuation of late fall cause delays in work and extend project schedules. As a result, a significant increase in development cost is observed due to long-term project overhead and idle equipment costs, and the increased cost eventually reduces the housing affordability of the residents of this region. In the construction industry, there are few examples of successful paving works at severe low temperature using innovative technologies and materials. Construction professionals, in general, make decisions pertaining to work schedule based on the respective cost-benefit performance of two options, such as: selecting an innovative technology to avoid schedule extension or waiting for suitable weather. This research constitutes a study of the weather limitations on asphalt paving works in greater Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, demonstrating its application to a neighbourhood road construction project. It proposes a framework to quantify the economic impact of these limitations using historical weather data and developing a simulation model of paving work by which to analyze the change of construction progress when weather limitations are relaxed while ensuring the asphalt performance in those conditions. The results of this study can assist decision makers in urban development works, providing them further insight to analyze alternative road development methods in order to search for paving specifications that increase the overall benefit by reducing the development cost and increasing housing affordability.