Relevant aspects to consider on life cycle assessment of geosynthetic reinforced soil wall

A proper sustainability evaluation of any infrastructure project is based on the combine results of environmental, economic, and social/functional assessments. Nowadays, environmental aspects have taken the stage, resulting in improved databases, methodologies, and data interpretation. Several past studies have shown the reduced impact of reinforced soil walls against competing solutions such as gravity walls. The main reason being the use of soil as the main structural material instead of steel and/or concrete. The present work focuses on the life cycle assessment methodology and expected results in environmental assessments for geosynthetic reinforced soil walls. Results include analysis over several environmental inventory aspects, such as transportation distances, backfill material, and material losses. Different environmental impact indicators are analysed and compared.