Abstract
Sustainable transport system must be supported by resilient infrastructure such as bridges. Bridge is an essential transportation structure that offers unique solutions for road and rail traffic to cross rivers, gorges and difficult ground conditions or for reducing conflict points in transportation system by carrying one mode of traffic over the other. Due to its pronounced economic importance to the society, bridge design aspects must go beyond the physical bridge structures and must cover all the factors that impact on the safe operation throughout its serviceable life span. The environment and the obstacle it crosses, the soil which carries it, the self-weight, imposed dead weights and the moving live loads must be adequately taken care of. The considerable conflicting factors of the site’s soil characteristics, river hydrology, ecosystem environmental impact, aesthetics, historical and archaeological impacts, permanent and transient loads, construction technologies and construction materials bring together a vast expertise of professionals. These sizeable factors must be well managed and harnessed by the vast team of experts involved to guarantee a positive outcome. The vast decay of Nigerian transport system is visible in all complimenting infrastructure including bridges. Cases of bridge collapse abound in Nigeria within the last decade. This research studies the failure trends of bridges in Nigeria and forty-five documented cases are considered for the research. Structural health monitoring approaches were combined with statistical measures to assess the causes and to proffer solutions to the failure trend. Poor maintenance, torrential rainfall/flooding, terrorist attacks, faulty design, poor materials and construction quality and truck overloading were found to be the major causes of bridge failures in Nigeria.
Highlights
The term bridge as per the Federal Ministry of Works “applies to structures over waterways, grade separation structures, road over rail structures and elevated highways” above 6metres which conveys traffic [1]
This paper aims at reviewing forty-five bridge collapses cases that have occurred in Nigeria from 2010 – 2018
Omo river bridge in Ethiopia partially sank into the river during construction, the main bridge did not show any major distress but failure occurred due of a weak link between the main bridge and the launching nose [58].Faulty design and construction can occur when bridge contracts are awarded based on sentiments and not qualifications such that, unqualified persons design and construct bridges; when all the loads meant to act on a bridge are not catered for in the bridge design; when ineffective methods and machinery are used for construction; and when proper subsoil investigation is not carried out for the right foundation type to be selected
Summary
The term bridge as per the Federal Ministry of Works “applies to structures over waterways, grade separation structures, road over rail structures and elevated highways” above 6metres which conveys traffic [1]. This bridge structure supports its own weight, loads due to do natural elements and daily traffic loads.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
