ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: North America is facing an infrastructure crisis. To illustrate, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates over the next five years there will be a $1.7 trillion investment need for U.S. infrastructure. In Canada there are 60,000 bridges, 30,000 with concrete decks. The majority of these bridges were built between 1950 and 1975 resulting in a significant cohort between 30 and 55 years of age. Typically Canadian agencies focus their resources on new construction and minimal attention is paid to maintenance and rehabilitation. As a result, most of these bridges require some form of rehabilitation and roughly 14% require major rehabilitation or replacement now. Over the next 10 years, 46% are projected to need rehabilitation. Estimates for these repair and rehabilitation costs range from $10 to $25 billion. The question that arises from these statistics is how can this problem be addressed and can it be prevented from occurring again?
