Integrated Life-Cycle Assessment and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis Model for Concrete Bridge Deck Applications
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 14, Issue 3
Abstract
An integrated life-cycle assessment and life-cycle cost analysis model was developed and applied to enhance the sustainability of concrete bridge infrastructure. The objective of this model is to compare alternative bridge deck designs from a sustainability perspective that accounts for total life-cycle costs including agency, user, and environmental costs. A conventional concrete bridge deck and an alternative engineered cementitious composite link slab design are examined. Despite higher initial costs and greater material-related environmental impacts on a per mass basis, the link slab design results in lower life-cycle costs and reduced environmental impacts when evaluated over the entire life cycle. Traffic delay caused by construction comprises 91% of total costs for both designs. Costs to the funding agency comprise less than 3% of total costs, and environmental costs are less than 0.5%. These results show life-cycle modeling is an important decision-making tool since initial costs and agency costs are not illustrative of total life-cycle costs. Additionally, accounting for construction-related traffic delay is vital to assessing the total economic cost and environmental impact of infrastructure design decisions.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded through a NSF MUSES Biocomplexity Program Grant (Grant Nos. NSFCMS-0223971 and NSFCMS-0329416). Materials Use: Science, Engineering, and Society (MUSES) supports projects that study the reduction of adverse human impact on the total interactive system of resource use, the design and synthesis of new materials with environmentally benign impacts on biocomplex systems, as well as the maximization of efficient use of materials throughout their life cycles.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 14 • Issue 3 • September 2008
Pages: 214 - 222
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 22, 2006
Accepted: Oct 9, 2006
Published online: Sep 1, 2008
Published in print: Sep 2008
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