Ongoing climate change is manifesting in the expansion of the urban heat island (UHI) effect. This paper evaluates the microclimate benefits of cool pavements and green infrastructures in a historical square in Rome, Italy. The ENVI-Met software enabled us to conduct a microclimatic analysis of the examined square in July 2021, through a comparison of the thermal performances of the current asphalt and sampietrini pavement (AS) with three alternatives. The proposed options are to change the existing layout to include: light concrete slabs and green furniture consisting of 5 m high trees (LC+G1), a perimeter hedge with 5 m high trees (LC+G2), and a perimeter hedge with 15 m high trees (LC+G3). The effects of the road pavements as passive countermeasures to the UHI effect are investigated in terms of air temperature (AT), mean radiant temperature (MRT), and predicted mean vote (PMV). The results show that the existing asphalt pavement is the worst option, while the cool pavement integrated with vegetation is greatly beneficial to human thermal comfort. Compared to the current layout, LC+G3 is the best scenario, because it implies an AT reduction higher than 3 °C, a MRT reduction equal to 50%, and a maximum PMV value equal to 2.2.

Cool pavements are reflective and/or permeable pavements that improve microclimate of urban areas where heat islands cause discomfort to citizens. Stone pavements lower surface temperatures and reduce the amount of heat absorbed. This study assessed, using ENVI-met 4.3 LITE software, how air temperature and predicted mean vote depend on physical properties of the road pavement. A comparative microclimatic analysis was implemented on a rectangular square in Rome (Italy) in the summer, paved in three different ways: asphalt, traditional sampietrini, and permeable sampietrini. The model considered local weather parameters, surrounding fabric, and vegetation to give reliable results in terms of numerical and graphical output using the application tool Leonardo. The tested pavement types affected air temperature during the day, but did not influence this variable in the early morning. Permeable sampietrini pavement was more effective than traditional sampietrini pavement in reducing air temperature compared to the current asphalt surface. The road pavement did not, however, affect human comfort in terms of predicted mean vote. The obtained results are useful for further investigation of parameters that could modify the microclimatic conditions of urban areas.

Environmental safeguards promote innovative construction technologies for sustainable pavements. On these premises, this study investigated four hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures—i.e., A, B, C, and D—for the railway sub-ballast layer with 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) by total aggregate mass and a rejuvenator additive, varying the bitumen content between 3.5% and 5.0%. Both Marshall and gyratory compactor design methods have been performed, matching the stability, indirect tensile strength, and volumetric properties of each mixture. Dynamic stiffness and fatigue resistance tests provided mechanical performances. Laboratory results highlighted that the RAP and the rejuvenator additive increase the mechanical properties of the mixtures. In addition, the comparative analysis of production costs revealed up to 20% savings as the RAP content increased, and the life cycle impact analysis (LCIA) proved a reduction of the environmental impacts (up to 2% for resource use-fossils, up to 7% for climate change, and up to 13% for water use). The experimental results confirm that HMA containing RAP has mechanical performances higher than the reference mixture with only virgin raw materials. These findings could contribute to waste management and reduce the environmental and economic costs, since the use of RAP in the sub-ballast is not, so far, provided in the Italian specifications for railway construction.

Urban heat islands (UHI) are one of the unequivocal effects of the ongoing process of climate change: anthropized areas suffer extreme heat events that affect the human perception of comfort. This study investigated the effects of road pavements as a passive countermeasure by comparing the air temperature (AT) and the predicted mean vote (PMV) for different surface materials used to pave a historical square in Rome, Italy. The software ENVI-met has been used to compare, for the whole year 2021, the performances of the existing asphalt pavement with five alternative solutions composed of light concrete, bricks, stone, wood, and grass. This paper proposed a new methodology to summarize the multi-dimensional results over both temporal and spatial domains. The results of the simulations in the evening of the hottest month showed the existing asphalt pavement gives the worst performance, while the light concrete blocks and the grass pavement ensure the coolest solutions in terms of AT (the average AT is 32 °C for the asphalt pavement and 30 °C for the modular one) and PMV (the maximum PMV value is 4.6 for the asphalt pavement and 4.4 for the modular and grass ones).

The aim of this research is to look for an automated, economical and fast method able to identify the elements of an existing road layout, whose original geometric design could date back to distant ages and could have undergone major modifications over the years. The analysis has been directed towards the Italian two-lane rural roads; the national public company ANAS made available its graph, obtained from high-performance surveys, that represents about 90% of these roads’ network. The graph is made up of a collection of georeferenced points but does not recognize or describe the geometric elements making up the roadway. Consequently, it has been necessary to design and develop an original procedure, subsequently implemented in a programming platform, able to identify the characteristics of the several parts, which constitute the reference axes of the existing roads. This research focuses on the horizontal geometry assessing the coherence, consistency and homogeneity of the roads’ layout, through the ex post application of the regulatory model for the design verification. If road sections are identified in which some conditions are not significantly met, further investigation should be conducted in order to ensure road safety and to plan any road upgrading activities.