Lifecycle cost and CO2 emission comparison of conventional and rationalized bridges

The construction industry consumes a great deal of natural resources and energy in constructing, maintaining and demolishing their products such as buildings and bridges. These activities lead significant impacts on global and regional environments in addition to their economic expenses. In this research, the lifecycle cost (LCC) and lifecycle CO₂ (LCCO₂) emission of newly developed bridges, including the minimized girder, rationalized box-girder and rationalized truss bridges, are quantified and compared with those of the conventional I-girder, box-girder and truss bridges. It was found that the newly developed types of bridges have lower values in both LCC and LCCO₂ than the corresponding conventional bridges do. The effects of span lengths on LCC and LCCO₂ are studied for both conventional and rationalized bridges. The characteristics of LCC and LCCO₂ are investigated over the lifecycle of a bridge including its construction, maintenance and replacement stages.