Bridges

In June 2022 the population of our planet earth reached 8 billion people. Collectively we are adding around one billion persons every 12 years with a rate not expected to materially slow down for at least another 40 years. In 1970 there were roughly half as many people in our world as there is now. Each new arrival on the planet has an undeniable right to be able to travel; for school, medical attention, social interaction, holidays and to work, all of us creating an ever increasing demand for transport infrastructure. The resultant demand for bridges is being answered by construction on an unprecedented scale; new bridges, widened bridges, strengthened bridges.

Running through all this is the need to create bridges which are sustainable; which as constructed effectively fulfil their intended functional intention, are cost effective over their full life cycle and which do not provide unnecessary harm to the environment in their construction and service life. This is not new, what is new is our definition of sustainability.

This paper looks at two aspects of sustainability as it pertains to bridge construction; finite resources and global warming, with particular reference to the concept of the circular economy.