Comprehensive Design Solutions for Vehicular Bridges using Aluminium Alloys in a Multi-Material Context

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The 2019 Canada Infrastructure Report Card notes that "the state of our infrastructure is at risk". Bridges are at the center of this aging infrastructure problem. Traditional construction materials are becoming more and more vulnerable to the escalating traffic demand (i.e. higher volume and heavier loads) and the increasingly aggressive environmental conditions. There is an urgent need to develop more appropriate and innovative engineering solutions for new bridge construction and for the rehabilitation of the large inventory of deficient bridges. The use of structural aluminium alloys offers considerable promise. Aluminium is the most abundant of all metals in the earth's crust with a practically infinite recyclable capacity; Canada is the world's 4th largest producer of primary aluminium. Efforts to integrate aluminium alloys in vehicular bridge construction have increased in recent years, including the recent construction of a modern short-span demonstration aluminium decking bridge at St-Ambroise, Québec. Aluminium's superior strength-to-weight ratio and durability (i.e. resistance to atmospheric corrosion), and low maintenance requirements, compared with the more traditional construction materials, mean that a bridge solution in aluminium offers tremendous potential for rapid construction, while providing increased traffic load carrying capacity, extended service life and a competitive total cost of bridge ownership. Moreover, the material's extrudability property provides designers with the ability to optimise sections by placing the material in areas that maximise structural properties and joining ease. To date, this potential has largely been under-exploited due mainly to insufficient knowledge and experience, inadequate design guide and specifications, and the lack of computer platform with the appropriate functions to facilitate the design process. The research program proposes a comprehensive development of the technical knowledge that would permit the analysis, design and structural optimisation of vehicular bridges using aluminium alloys in the context of a multi-material solution, and that meets the performance criteria of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Standard CSA S6. The program will be based on advanced finite element and simplified analyses and laboratory and field tests of components and in-service bridges, and would lead to the development of analytical equations, analysis and design methods, and design aids. These design tools will subsequently be integrated into a state-of-the-art computing environment, similar to those in use with traditional construction materials, and would be available to bridge engineers to help reduce the effort required to develop new bridge designs with aluminium. To this end, Canada can position herself as an innovation leader in the use of aluminium alloys for vehicular bridge construction, and Canadians can benefit from world-class, modern public infrastructure.