A Composite Bridge is Favoured by Quantifying Ecological Impact

Abstract

Carrying traffic loads is not the only objective of bridge designers nowadays. Other demands include constructing a bridge in a sustainable way, which reduces pollution and other harm to the environment. In The Netherlands, the government responds to such demands by promoting technologies and materials that decrease the environmental impact of construction projects. An assessment of that impact is, however, quite complex for bridge projects. The existing analytical methods, such as life-cycle analysis (LCA), require an extensive data input. Moreover, their results are more reliable for relatively simple products of short life cycles, for example, door or window frames, than for complex construction projects. In construction projects, the life cycles cannot be determined with the same precision and the materials are usually chosen in the very early stage of design. As a result, the data required by the LCA are often incomplete or even disputable. Therefore, there is a demand for ecological analysis methods that enable quick scanning of several material options, require less-extensive data input and are hardly, or not, vulnerable to arbitrariness.