Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of the First All-Aluminum Bridge

Initial costs of materials are conventionally the deciding factor for material selection of structural constructions. However, recent years have seen a tremendous increase in maintenance costs of existing infrastructure that has demanded an alternative approach for material selection in place of the initial cost. The construction industry is now adopting more holistic approaches considering the long-term financial and environmental implications of their projects. Thus, materials such as aluminum with higher initial costs are gaining popularity due to their multitude of positive attributes such as lightweight, durability, low maintenance, excellent recyclability, and corrosion resistance, which can reduce the life-cycle cost of structures over the entire service life. However, the current literature is lacking evidence of a comprehensive life-cycle cost analysis on an existing aluminum structure. Based on this premise, this study performs a life-cycle cost analysis on the first all-aluminum bridge in Arvida, Quebec. The analysis takes into account the construction cost, the available maintenance cost from the past 70+ years as well as the projected costs for future maintenance work, associated traffic disturbance, and the demolition of the bridge at the end of life. An in-depth analysis has shown that the cost for concrete deck rehabilitation, which is more than the initial construction costs, has contributed significantly in the total costs. It is also revealed that in order to obtain conservatives estimation of the total life-cycle cost, LCCA should be performed probabilistically incorporating all major sources of uncertainties.