Climate and Transportation Seminar Series - Consideration of Climate in Prioritizing Bridge Maintenance and Repair
November 8, 2017
Climate and Transportation Seminar Series - Consideration of Climate in Prioritizing Bridge Maintenance and Repair
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Presenter: Royce Floyd
Abstract: Bridges are an integral part of America’s infrastructure, providing critical links within the country’s vast highway system. The 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card gave America’s bridges a C+ rating, slightly better than the overall infrastructure rating of D+, yet a majority of bridges are approaching the end of their design life. The average age of America’s bridges is 43 years, nearly 40% are 50 years or older, and an additional 15% are 40-49 years old, most with a design life of only 50 years. Current rehabilitation needs for these bridges total approximately $123 billion and all bridges are getting older by the day. Many factors affect the condition of a bridge, such as age of the bridge, traffic demands, materials, and design. Extreme weather such as heat waves, freezing and thawing cycles, winter precipitation, and flooding are also known to impact bridge condition and safety, and climate change is emerging as a “new force” acting upon infrastructure. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate climate impact when assessing current and future bridge deterioration.
The current state of funding for infrastructure projects combined with the vast need for maintenance and repair requires state agencies to be more strategic than ever before about the allocation of the funds for maximum utility. Rehabilitation decisions to extend the life of America’s bridges must include consideration of many factors with climate as a major player, especially if the frequency of extreme weather events continues to increase. Reliable historic and future predicted climate data has the potential to provide useful insight into bridge prioritization decisions if effective utilization strategies can be identified. This seminar will focus on specific instances of bridge deterioration exacerbated by extreme weather conditions and initial efforts to identify climate factors affecting bridge deterioration and incorporate climate data into bridge maintenance and rehabilitation decision making within the state of Oklahoma. Future research and data needs to effectively prioritize bridge maintenance and rehabilitation will also be discussed.
