SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 July 2026
STP165820240076

Sustainability Comparison of Deeper Corrugated Steel Buried Bridges with Concrete Girder Bridges

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This paper evaluates bridge sustainability through the lens of key social, economic, and environmental factors in bridge infrastructure. The evaluation is primarily based on life cycle carbon footprint and life cycle cost analyses that compare three functionally equivalent bridges: a concrete girder bridge and two deeper corrugated steel buried bridges—one with strip footing and the other with pile foundations. The evaluated bridges are grade separation structures with four lanes of traffic crossing both under and over. Evaluation factors include life cycle carbon emissions, life cycle cost, construction time, and planned maintenance. The deeper corrugated steel buried bridge options were found to be advantageous compared to the concrete girder bridge for all evaluation criteria and scenarios. Study results indicate that the deeper corrugated steel buried bridges have 27% to 32% lower carbon footprints than the concrete girder bridge equivalent. The life stages among which deeper corrugated steel buried bridges were found to have a lower carbon footprint were construction and maintenance, suggesting less traffic disruption due to accelerated construction time and lower maintenance. The study results indicated that the deeper corrugated buried bridge systems consistently have a lower life cycle cost when compared to the concrete equivalent, with cost savings ranging from 41% to 46%.

Author Information

Karacaoglu, Berk
Atlantic Industries Limited, Cambridge, CA
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Pages: 1–15
DOI: 10.1520/STP165820240076
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-7768-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-7767-3