Critical concrete infrastructure: extending the life of Canada’s bridge network

One-third of Canada’s 75,000 highway bridges have structural or functional deficiencies and a short remaining service life. With 20 million light vehicles, 750,000 trucks and 15,000 public transit buses using Canadian bridges annually, they are essential for the efficient movement of commercial goods within the country and across international borders. Owners of bridges and critical concrete infrastructure are seeking to reduce operating costs during their service life. Canadian industry dealing with the construction and maintenance of concrete bridges is exploring advances in materials science, fault detection and automation to develop and improve their products and tools to meet bridge owners’ needs. Canadian firms are already at work helping to develop long-life structures. However, they are facing technical barriers that are challenging the adoption of new products and technologies, such as early failure of materials used for rehabilitation and unreliable technologies for initial and long-term assessment.