Bridge Design ticks

all the boxes for

Sustainability
By David Coe, Director pitt&sherry
The long running debate around climate
change and carbon pricing mechanisms have
become synonymous with sustainability for
many people. However, in order to deliver
true sustainable outcomes for transport
infrastructure, it is necessary to consider
a broad range of economic, social and
environmental aspects, explains David Coe,
Director, pitt&sherry.
An excellent definition of sustainability
for the transport sector is the one devised
by VicRoads, which is used to focus their
commitment to sustainability. It states, the
ability to meet the needs of society to move
freely, gain access, communicate, trade and
establish relationships without sacrificing
other essential human or ecological values
today or in the future. We can see from

this definition that there is no reference to

climate change or reducing carbon emissions,
it is about providing a balanced approach to
transport for our society.
In developing the definition, VicRoads
has developed key indicators under INVEST
(Integrated VicRoads Environmental
Sustainability Tool, developed in 2011)
which includes air quality, biodiversity,
cultural heritage, stakeholder engagement,
noise management, design and resource
management. The tool is one of several
developed by road authorities worldwide to
indicate the sustainability of transport projects.
The INVEST tool is ideal for benchmarking
projects to ensure that sustainability issues
are addressed. Bridges form an integral part
of most transport infrastructure projects,

and bridge engineers are strongly placed

to influence the sustainability outcomes of
such projects. Indeed, it can be argued that
bridge engineers have always been involved
in delivering sustainable solutions through
the design, construction and maintenance of
bridges and associated structures.
There are a number of examples to highlight
the point:
Princes Bridge encapsulated
for the removal of paint

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CIVIL WORKS

As part of the City of Melbournes

rehabilitation of Princes Bridge, the heritage
listed structure was strengthened to
accommodate increased traffic loads while
the faade was refurbished to maintain the
heritage features of the structure. During
the removal of the lead based paint it
was important to provide maximum dust
containment, mitigation and disposal to
minimise the effects of the paint dust on
air quality.
As part of the replacement of the Sorell
Causeway Bridge in Tasmania there was
extensive stakeholder engagement on the
location and key design aspects for the new
structure. As part of the environmental
considerations for the new bridge, which
crosses the Ramsar listed Pitt Water Nature
Reserve, it was necessary to relocate an
endangered species of sea star to other
areas within the reserve before construction
could commence.
During the final stages of planning for the
Brighton Bypass, artefacts dating back at
least 20,000 years were discovered on the
levees to the Jordan River. The stakeholder
engagement process was complex, and
at times controversial, and included
several proposals to protect the important
Aboriginal heritage site. In the end, the
compromise solution was to construct
a 70m span bridge over the levees. The
design and construction required the bridge
to be launched over the site to minimise
impact of the structure and associated
construction activities.
It can be seen from these examples,
and there are plenty of others, that bridge
engineers, have integrated a broad range of
tools and considerations into their design and
construction processes that embed, and often
deliver innovative, sustainability solutions. It
is a natural part of their psyche, to design new
bridges and rehabilitate existing structures
to meet the future needs of society while
minimising the impact on the environment. It is
about optimising the use of materials to deliver
efficiently designed durable new bridges and
its about strengthening and widening existing
bridges to deliver rehabilitation solutions to
extend their useful life.
In order to deliver the required strength to
carry current and likely future loads along with
the required minimum 100 year design life, the
majority of bridges will continue to extensively
use steel and cement as primary construction
materials. Both materials have high levels of
embedded energy and produce large quantities
70

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Carbon fibre strengthening of Arden Street Bridge

of greenhouse gases in the production

phase. While there are some very interesting
developments around geopolymer cement that
would substantially reduce the carbon footprint
of concrete, it is likely traditional cement based
concrete will be used for the majority of bridge
construction in the foreseeable future.
The key driver to reducing the level of steel
and cement has been to lower the overall
cost of a project. To do that, bridge engineers
and construction companies have utilised
alternative materials that maintain, and often
enhance, the integrity of the bridge at a more
competitive rate.
The use of fly ash and blast furnace slag in
concrete mixes has been common practice for
many years. In recent times it has been labelled
as green cement, which it is, but is certainly
not a new concept to our industry.
The producers of steel and cement are
liable entities required to pay the carbon
tax under the Clean Energy Act. As these
companies have been deemed to be
internationally trade exposed, under the
Act they have a 94.5% carbon price shield.
The end result to the construction of bridges
is a 0.1 0.2% price increase, which is
relatively negligible.
We are starting to see a greater usage of
alternative materials such as fibre reinforced
polymer (FRP), hybrid composite beams (HCB)

and geopolymers. Quite rightly, the general use

of these alternative materials is driven by the
requirement to deliver sustainable economic
solution. As the cost of producing these
materials reduces and understanding their
long term properties increase, their use,
most likely for specific solutions, will become
more widespread.
In essence, bridge designers and engineers
are enablers of sustainability. The guiding
principles for INVEST for transport
accessibility, reliability, safety, travel time and
consideration of environmental and social
impacts go well beyond carbon emissions
and the carbon tax. The solutions developed
by bridge engineers to extend and strengthen
an existing structure or to design a new bridge
consider material usage, environmental and
social impacts to deliver cost effective solutions
with a minimum design life of 100 years.
For more information on pitt&sherrys
commitment to sustainability please
go to: www.pittsh.com.au/documents/
SustainabilityReport2012.pdf
David Coe is a Director of pitt&sherry with 28
years experience in the design and construction
of civil/structural engineering projects;
predominantly in Victoria and Tasmania.
David is responsible for pitt&sherrys transport
Victorian Operations.