Research stay at University of Palermo in Italy

Pamela Haverkamp, PhD candidate, Project C02

I spent three months at the SMARTIlab at the Engineering Department of the University of Palermo, working under the supervision of Prof. Davide Lo Presti. It was a great experience since I had the chance to work closely with researchers focusing on transport infrastructure and could gather a lot of valuable information on the production and end-of-life of asphalt mixtures. This proved to be particularly useful for my research, especially how assumptions on these topics can influence the results of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of asphalt mixtures and road infrastructure.

The main focus of my stay was on integrating different end-of-life (EoL) allocation methods into LCA, using asphalt mixtures as a case study. I explored four allocation approaches, including the Circular Footprint Formula (CFF), which was applied to asphalt mixtures for the first time. This gave me the opportunity to critically evaluate which method could be the most suitable for materials with high recycling potential and what challenges might come with it.

The research stay also contributed to strengthen the international visibility of my work and the goals of the TRR 339. I was able to share first results at conferences and publications, and was invited by Prof. Lo Presti to take part in RILEM’s Technical Committee “APS: Alternative Paving Materials – Sustainability”, where I am connecting with experts working on similar topics and expanding the network of our sub-project.