Translating the circular economy to bridge construction: Lessons learnt from a critical literature review

Abstract

‘Sustainability’, ‘circular economy’, ‘circular construction’ have received increasing attention in the last decade. However, their interpretation is often unclear, as is the way a certain study fits into these research fields. In this paper, therefore, first a definition of both ‘sustainability’ and ‘circular economy’ is proposed. It is concluded that sustainability is the goal, while the circular economy is a means to achieve a more sustainable economy.Subsequently, the application of the circular economy in the construction industry is investigated, with a special focus on bridge construction. Reason is that, for instance, many concrete pedestrian bridges currently find themselves in the end-of-life phase, are demolished and often merely rebuilt, with a lot of material and energy loss as a consequence. An investigation of the available circular construction principles is therefore performed in order to determine certain limitations and gaps for future research and to stipulate the path to be followed towards circular bridge construction. This is necessary in order to prevent the same cycle of demolition and replacement from being run through again in a few decades.It is concluded that the meso-scale, the construction in general, is rarely discussed. Yet, an in-depth investigation is necessary in order to develop specific design strategies for circular bridges. A certain standardisation scheme to facilitate circularity, needs to be developed. This scheme should, however, still allow enough architectural freedom. Additionally, this scheme needs to be accompanied by, to be developed, meso-scale circularity indicators to effectively assess the eventual circularity of a bridge.