Technical and Economic Criteria to Select Pavement Surfaces of Port Handling Plants

A port is an intermodal system in which many logistics activities requiring properly constructed areas occur. The large extension of these areas poses a major problem in choosing materials with technical and economic implications. Choice and design of pavements are directly related to the port handling systems and procedures for the disposal of the cargo units. The paper presents the design and verification procedures for three equivalent pavements for a handling pavement in an Italian medium-sized port trafficked by reach stackers moving containers. An asphalt pavement, a concrete pavement, and a concrete block pavement have been considered during the 20-year service life. Empirical and analytical methods have been adopted to design and verify the pavements. The structures have been examined in terms of economic concerns during the overall service life, considering both construction and maintenance costs, in order to determine the most cost-effective option. The results demonstrate the inappropriateness of asphalt pavement, in the examined case, from a construction costs point of view. Furthermore, the overall discounted costs show an inversion of convenience between block concrete pavement and cast in situ concrete: the latter is the cheaper solution. The proposed methodology can balance often conflicting objectives in matters of durability and funds management, providing answers to a complex topic.