Impacts of Extreme Environments on the Performance of the Bridges and the Countermeasures

Abstract

Due to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, global climate change has induced more and more extreme environmental conditions. This study introduces the effects of extreme temperatures, earthquakes, and storms, which a civil engineer cannot neglect, on the performance of bridges. Temperature change impacts the strength, deformation, and other properties of concrete, such as the cracks. Earthquakes could cause several cases of the beam falling due to the failure of the supporting connection and the substructure. The wind load could impact the dynamic stability of the bridge. Therefore, some countermeasures for designing, constructing, and maintaining bridges against these conditions are proposed. Set a temperature measuring tube and improve the quality of concrete could resist the extreme weather. The improvement of the bridge structure is necessary to resist earthquakes. Cantilever erection of steel truss beam, steel girder top falling beam closing, flexible arch laying erection, and flexible arch closure are effective measures to resist the storm.