Bridge construction & harsh climate: how climate affects technologies used in construction projects

Jan. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Infrastructure of any kind has significant construction challenges that can see deadlines pass unmet and budgets double or triple. However, in terms of construction projects, bridges are one of the most technically difficult, up there with skyscrapers and tunnels. Bridges are so complex because they are constructed over something – the reason there is a need for a bridge in the first place – often a river, sea, chasm or road. However, they also need to cope with the weight of traffic, stresses from wind and inclement weather, as well as potential land movements.

When it was first built in the 1970s, the Humber Bridge was considered a super-structure due to its record-breaking spans of 1,410m. As a suspension bridge, one of the main challenges the designers Freeman Fox encountered was the liability of the road to oscillate under extremes of conditions, be they wind or high loads. To overcome this, the architects created streamlined hollow box sections, the upper flange of which, when covered with a mastic asphalt, provides the roadway.

"The streamlined shape is not only aerodynamically stable, but greatly reduces the direct loads arising from wind, thereby relieving the towers of very considerable lateral forces with consequent further economy," explained  the Humber Bridge Board.

In the 40 years since its construction, much has changed in the construction world, but the challenges faced by bridge designers remain the same. These difficulties can be exacerbated by poor construction conditions, cold weather and climate change but technological advances have gone some way to help.

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