Comparison of the service life, life-cycle costs and assessment of hybrid and traditional reinforced concrete through a case study of bridge edge beams in Sweden
Journal article, 2023

The edge beams of reinforced concrete bridges with de-icing salts sprayed experience extensive corrosion damage. The average service life of edge beams needing replacement in Sweden has been reported as only 45 years, causing great economic loss to both owners and users. Hence, finding a durable solution for edge beams would benefit society. Hybrid reinforced concrete structures, produced by adding a low-to-moderate fibre content into traditional reinforced concrete, can effectively limit the service crack width and improve resistance to chloride-induced corrosion damage. In this paper, different alternatives of hybrid and traditional reinforced edge beams were designed for a case study. The service life of the alternatives was compared by conducting chloride diffusion calculations and by applying a corrosion-induced cracking model. The economic and environmental (indicated by greenhouse gas emissions) benefits of using hybrid reinforced edge beams were assessed by life-cycle cost analysis and life-cycle assessment. The results showed that the service life of edge beams made of hybrid reinforced concrete can be prolonged by over 58%, thereby enabling a significant reduction in the total life-cycle costs and annual total greenhouse gas emissions.

life-cycle assessment

reinforcement corrosion

life-cycle cost analysis

Hybrid reinforced concrete

service life

crack model

Author

Teresa E Chen

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering

Carlos Gil Berrocal

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering

Ingemar Löfgren

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering

Karin Lundgren

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering

Structure and Infrastructure Engineering

1573-2479 (ISSN) 1744-8980 (eISSN)

Vol. 19 1 39-57

Hybrid reinforcement solutions in chloride environment: durability, safety and life cycle costs

Development Fund of the Swedish Construction Industry (SBUF) (13683), 2019-10-01 -- 2020-08-31.

Cementa (17243), 2018-06-01 -- 2020-08-30.

Swedish Transport Administration (TRV 2018/36506), 2018-06-01 -- 2020-08-30.

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Innovation and entrepreneurship

Subject Categories

Construction Management

Infrastructure Engineering

Building Technologies

Composite Science and Engineering

Areas of Advance

Materials Science

DOI

10.1080/15732479.2021.1919720

More information

Latest update

1/18/2023