A review of the potential impacts of climate change on the safety and performance of bridges

Abstract

An overabundance of evidence, both observational and from model projections, indicate that changes to the climate system are taking place at unprecedented rates. Although the magnitudes of these changes involve large uncertainties, the fact that our climate is changing is unequivocal. To ensure an unimpaired functionality of our societies,it is therefore of crucial importance to study the potential climate change impacts on infrastructure. Taking into account that bridges have a considerably long service life, it is of direct relevance to ascertain their reliable performance against climate change risks. This paper synthesizes the findings of over 190 research articles to identify the potential risks climate change may pose on bridges. Over 30 potential risks, supported by pertinent previous bridge damage (or failure) cases, are identified, categorized, and linked to the projected future climate changes. The identified risks can be used as a basis for future risk prioritization by bridge managers.

Bridges in a changing climate: a study of the potential impacts of climate change on bridges and their possible adaptations

“…Other degradation mechanisms, e.g. due to the potential increase in the number of freeze and thaw cycles, may be affected by climate change; see, e.g., Nasr et al (2019a).…”

“…In addition, adaptations that have not been previously identified as climate change responses but are judged as suitable measures to decrease climate change related impacts are also presented. For the sake of completeness, the presented adaptation techniques are not limited to the risks discussed in the previous section but also include climate change relevant risks identified in other studies (e.g., Nasr et al, 2019a).…”

“…; the Baltic Sea (Kjellstr€ om, Lindner & Rummukainen, 2013), due to a changing climate, it is crucial to ascertain the safety of our infrastructure against the potential impacts of climate change. Furthermore, Nasr et al (2019a) mentions the usually prolonged process of updating standards and codes of practice (Auld et al, 2010;Meyer, 2008) and the considerable delay associated with the construction of major protection projects (e.g. storm surge barriers) (Hill, 2012), both of which may be necessary as a response to climate change, as two compelling arguments for an expedited consideration of the potential impacts of climate change on infrastructure.…”

“…The aim of this article is to present the potential impacts of climate change on bridges and develop an extensive list of the possible adaptation strategies to counteract these impacts. To date, a small number of studies have addressed the risks imposed on bridges by climate change and their possible adaptations (e.g., Kumar & Imam, 2013;Meyer, 2008;Mondoro, Frangopol, & Liu, 2018;Schwartz, 2010;Nasr et al, 2019a). However, this study is unique in that it provides a broad list of the possible adaptation techniques in response to the risks identified in literature.…”

Development of a Safety-Inspection Method for River Bridges in Turkey

“…The majority of those BMSs focused mainly on structural health monitoring with less consideration for water-related hazards, such as scour at bridge foundation, and debris accumulation [11]. Meanwhile, some studies were conducted on the extreme weather events and changes in the frequency of extreme flooding due to global warming and the potential risks they pose to bridges [12][13][14]. Thus, today emphasis is placed on the bridge scour assessment with the increase in the number of catastrophic failures of bridges associated with flood induced events.…”