Steel solutions for a sustainable bridge infrastructure of today and tomorrow

Abstract

Responsible for 70% of the global CO₂ emissions, infrastructure has a significant impact on our climate and the related consequences. Bridges are a major keystone of the infrastructure and take a leading position in its decarbonization. In this framework, low-carbon emission steels play an important role. Low-carbon emission steels, like ArcelorMittal's XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steels, are already available on the market. Combining scrap and renewable electricity, it offers very low levels of CO₂ emissions per ton of finished steel. The present paper describes how different steel solutions can be combined to lower the material input, to simplify the construction process and to reduce the maintenance efforts in bridge construction. The impact of efficient design has been assessed by a Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) for bridge solutions with small and medium spans of up to 40 m. The paper concludes with a summary of recently realized bridge projects in Poland.