Effects of Climate Change on Existing Bridge Structures in India

V N Heggade - Founder & CEO, DECon Complete Solutions

Bridges are designed for a service life of 100 years, and as such they have to be servicing for 100 years in their use stage for modules B1 to B9 of their whole lifecycle stages as shown in Figure (a).

Therefore, for reducing carbon during the ‘in use stage’, performance based design and construction is imperative so that the structural intervention and replacement are completely eliminated within the service life. Also, provisions may be made in the original design to prolong the life of the bridge. The capacity of the bridge shall be based on the appropriate traffic forecast, and if the bridge needs to be widened for increased capacity during the design service life, adequate provisions shall be kept for widening at the initial design stage itself.