The chapter presents an overview of the
infrastructure planning process in the Nordic countries. Process stages have
been named to accommodate eventual differences between countries.
3.1 Planning Process Description
Planning of roads and railways is a stepwise process where the levels of
accuracy and detail increase as the planning proceeds.
Figure 3.7 illustrates an approximation of the process of
road and railway planning in Finland, Sweden and in Norway. The planning
process stages are feasibility study, design consisting of preliminary
engineering planning and final engineering planning, construction and operation
& maintenance. The plans are coordinated with the land use planning. The
engineering plans are approved by formal approval decisions.Planning of roads and railways is a stepwise process where the levels of
accuracy and detail increase as the planning proceeds.
Figure 3.7 illustrates an approximation of the process of
road and railway planning in Finland, Sweden and in Norway. The planning
process stages are feasibility study, design consisting of preliminary
engineering planning and final engineering planning, construction and operation
& maintenance. The plans are coordinated with the land use planning. The
engineering plans are approved by formal approval decisions.
At the feasibility study -stage the necessity and the timing of the
project are the main questions to consider. Moving into the design phase, at
the preliminary engineering planning the approximate location of the road/railway
corridor is examined. The final engineering planning phase determines the
precise location of the road or the railway, areas required for the road or the
railway, intersections, solutions for pedestrian and bicycle traffic and public
transport, other detailed solutions such as measures necessary to the
prevention of negative traffic impacts and the cost estimate of the road or
railway. After design is complete, the construction phase starts and covers the
drafting of the documents that are required for construction of the road or the
railway. The plan is usually done by the contractor and during the phase the
actual construction materials and products, working methods and working order
are decided.
3.2. Decision Makin in Road Planning Process
The principles that are
chosen for planning of a road/rail project have a big influence on the
potential impacts of the project. To give a concrete example, if the principle
decision is that the road will have interchanges instead of level
intersections, there will be significant impacts on right of way and the need
for bridges. The planning principles are formally approved in the preliminary
engineering planning phase and in the final engineering planning phase (see
Figure 3.1, “Approval decision”). Planning principles that are formally
approved in the preliminary engineering plan are usually no longer subject to
change through objections or appeals in the final engineering planning phase.
The formality of the planning process must be taken into consideration when
assessing the impacts of a road/rail construction process.
The outcome of a feasibility plan is project goal setting, evaluation of
alternatives, preliminary impact assessment and cost estimation.
At preliminary engineering planning the following principles/solutions
are processed/approved:
- approximate location of the road/railway
- general traffic and road engineering and landscaping solutions including:
- number of lanes,
- principles of connections to road network (intersections/interchanges),
- road dimensioning speed,
- principles of organizing local traffic and walking and cycling
- principles of landscaping and green areas
- bridges (length, width, underpass height)
- principles of prevention of negative impacts on the environment (see section 3.3)
- preliminary estimate of costs and division of costs (if available)
At final engineering planning the following principles/solutions are
processed/approved:
- precise road/railway area (right of way)
- detailed traffic and road/rail engineering and landscaping solutions
- specific location, alignment and elevation of the road
- typical cross section (lanes, shoulders, slopes)
- technical cross-section, pavement
- drainage solutions
- road gear and road equipment
- bridges
- tunnels
- solutions of prevention of negative impacts on the environment (noise and groundwater protection solutions)
- estimate of costs and division of costs
During construction, the actual materials, products, working methods and
working order are decided by the contractor according to the requirements that
are set by the customer of the construction project.
During operation and maintenance, the materials, products, working methods
and working order of operation and maintenance are decided by the contractor
according to the requirements that are set by the customer of the works. The
level of maintenance is decided by the road/rail owners and it is dependent on
the importance of the road/rail connection and traffic, amongst other things.

Figure 3.3 Determination and accumulation of costs and GHG-balance, traffic costs and effects not included
The aim of Figure 3.3 is to
illustrate at which phase the most important decisions are made that have an
influence on GHG-emissions and at which phase the GHG-emissions accumulate. The
GHG emissions of traffic are not shown.
3.3 Using LCA in Road and Railway Planning
Example: Use of Lca in the Planning Process
During the preliminary engineering planning, LCA is used to calculate
the GHG emissions and compare impact of different choices of alignment of the
infrastructure. In tools used in the Nordics, there are standard measures which
describes the normal workflow in a measure, for example, material and energy
used per kilometer of a concrete tunnel, and a standard number for the GHG
emission of that measure. In this phase, approximate amounts of bridges,
tunnels and road or rail construction methods are calculated for each alignment
and the amounts are used in the tool with the standard measure data. The
results from the calculations is one basis of many to consider when deciding
upon an alignment.
In the next phase, the final engineering planning phase where the
alignment has been chosen, the tool is used in two ways:
- to evaluate different technical construction solutions
- to calculate a total amount of emissions and energy use for the whole infrastructure (not including traffic) as it gets more and more precise.
The first calculation of the whole chosen alignment is considered the
baseline for the project. From the result of the baseline calculation, there
are requirements from the NRA to reduce the GHG emission by a specific
percentage. As the calculations proceed, the standard measures are changed for
more specific data on amounts and sizes, according to the specifics found in
the early civil engineering, but still there are not any specific data on
materials, i.e. EPD-data. The calculation is hence more specific than in the
former phase, but still quite unspecific as there are no specific suppliers of
materials yet. As the project proceeds, it gets more and more detailed. In the
implementation phase (which also includes the structural design phase and
selection of construction materials), the calculations follow the same pattern
as described above. The final calculation gives input to the procurement
process, where it sets the baseline on climate emissions requirements for the
contractor to follow and reduce.
After procurement, the contractor
supplies update the model with specific material data and completes the
calculations.
It is important to mention that the
above example is not without limitations in data availability and the need to
make assumptions that would ideally be covered by specific data.