A model for appraising the sustainability of highway bridges

• Main Author: Amiri, A.
• Published: University College London (University of London) 2012
• Subjects: 624.2
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625731

Sustainable development is a key policy objective in many countries. Its aim is to promote systems/practices that provide a good balance between the often conflicting demands of modern society namely economic growth, protection of the environment and social progress for all. Highway bridges play a crucial role on our ability to maintain a sustainable economy by means of improving transport links, shortening journey times and thereby reducing energy consumption by vehicles. However, their construction and maintenance could cause considerable impact on our environment and communities. Many of those who are involved in bridge design, construction and maintenance are cautious of sustainability issues either spontaneously or under pressure from various instruments introduced by the government. However, there is a frustration at a noticeable lack of relevant sustainability appraisal metrics and data on design alternatives for effective project level decision making. An overview of the existing sustainability appraisal tools demonstrates that most of them are solely applicable to the building structures, predominantly focus on environmental issues and fail to aggregate the various dimensions of sustainability which makes it difficult to identify the most sustainable solution where several options exist. In order to address the above need, a new model for sustainability appraisal of bridge structures has been produced. The tool termed System for Appraising the Sustainability of Structures (SASS) is a pseudo-quantitative methodology which has primarily been developed to appraise bridge structures but it is sufficiently general that it could easily be adapted for use with other types of civil infrastructures. SASS allows for the separate life cycle assessment of relevant sustainability issues in a straightforward, transparent, rigorous and repeatable manner. It also includes a means of combining the impacts to provide an overall assessment of sustainability. A case study on three alternative designs of bridges is presented to demonstrate its use.