Assessing Highway Bridge Chloride Exposure at a Provincial Scale: Mapping and Projecting Impacts of Climate Change
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 8
Abstract
This study addresses the absence of a provincial scale database on chloride exposure for bridges, which specifically focuses on Ontario, Canada. Considering the region-based climate and traffic characteristics, a comprehensive database was developed based on chloride exposure prediction models. This database documents chloride exposure information under different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for bridge piers and decks across regions and times. This prediction model was validated against experimentally derived chloride profiles from concrete core samples. The database allows for the assessment of spatial and temporal patterns in chloride exposure, which considers the projected climate change conditions. To facilitate data interpretation, this study employs heat maps to transform the extensive provincial database into a visually accessible format. Bridge piers in Southern Ontario have higher surface chloride concentrations than those in Northern Ontario; however, bridge decks in Northern Ontario tend to exhibit higher surface chloride concentrations compared with those in Southern Ontario. Future projections suggest an overall increase in the surface chloride concentrations on bridge piers across most of Ontario under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, which is largely attributed to increased traffic volume. However, certain southern regions might see a decrease under RCP8.5, which is a direct consequence of climate change. In contrast, surface chloride concentrations on bridge decks are expected to decline, a trend that is driven by diminishing snowfall and increasing traffic volume. In addition, these findings suggest that relying on RCP8.5 could lead to underestimating the climate change impacts compared with RCP4.5. This study highlighted the spatiotemporal patterns in highway bridge chloride exposure in the context of climate change.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data generated during the study are available in a repository online (https://xum94.shinyapps.io/Chloride_Exposure_Database/) in accordance with funder data retention policies (Xu 2023).
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and MTO through the Highway Infrastructure Innovation Funding Program. In addition, we deeply appreciate the field test data shared by the City of Toronto and the expert guidance from Hao Zhang and Wilson Lam. Any opinions and conclusions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.
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Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 29 • Issue 8 • August 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 12, 2023
Accepted: Apr 12, 2024
Published online: Jun 12, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Nov 12, 2024
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