Bridge design for maintenance

For a number of years now, engineers working in design offices on new bridge projects have been made aware of the need to design for future maintenance. Indeed in the UK and other European countries there are now statutory obligations in force that require engineers to ensure that safe access and methods of working to carry out maintenance are determined for all projects from the design stage. Minimising the use of joints and bearings in bridges and facilitating their replacement when specified; the use of weathering steels; specifying longer life paints; increasing the quality of and cover to concrete and the use of epoxy and stainless steel reinforcing steel in concrete are all methods used to minimise future maintenance. However, there is still work to be done in improving the design process. There does still seem to be a gap in knowledge between engineers working in the design office and those working in the maintenance field. There is now even stronger pressure in this financial climate for design engineers to minimise construction costs, potentially at the expense of future maintenance, especially in design and construct projects. The only effective way that maintenance can truly be considered at the design stage is if the knowledge and experience of those engineers working in the field can be harnessed at the design stage to improve the future maintainability of bridges. This paper will examine this issue with illustrations from two case studies.