• How does the bridge design minimise ecological or environmental impacts on the

waterways it crosses?
1. Surface water hydrology can be affected during all phases of bridge and culvert activities.
Construction activities can result in compaction of soils and an increase in impermeable (or
slowly permeable) surfaces. The subsequent increase in surface runoff may, in turn, increase
the risk of flooding. Bridges and culverts can potentially alter the flow regimes of the river
thereby affecting water velocity, depth, depositional patterns and channel morphology.
These changes in turn may increase the risk of flooding and erosion.
2. Surface water quality could be affected by a number of factors during operations on site.
Construction activities may encourage soil erosion and increase the sediment loads of
nearby streams, while accidental leaks/spills of oil/fuel from storage tanks or construction,
maintenance and decommissioning vehicles can also pollute surface waters.

3. Construction activities may also have significant impacts on groundwater hydrology and
quality. The site may need to be drained to provide suitable conditions for the engineering
works to occur, resulting in temporary changes to ground flow. Also, soil contaminated from
a previous land use may be disturbed during construction works, causing pollutants such as
heavy metals to enter ground and surface waters.

4. The removal of native vegetation and its replacement with bridge and culvert engineering
structures can cause direct damage, disturbances, fragmentation or loss of terrestrial and
aquatic habitats and ecology. Construction and decommissioning activities could also result
in the increased sediment loading of streams and changes in turbidity may impact adversely
upon aquatic populations. In addition to this, local ecological populations may be adversely
affected by pollution incidents attributed to fuel leaks and oil spills associated with
construction, maintenance and decommissioning operations on site. The physical presence
of both bridge and culvert engineering structures may affect ecological populations in a
number of ways. The local ecology may be disrupted as habitat corridors become severed. In
addition, culverts may act as barriers to the migration of fish and small mammals. Bridges in
particular will cause some shading of the river bank and bed thereby potentially altering the
aquatic flora present in the river bed. Ecological impacts may operate over a longer time-
scale, as populations take time to respond to environmental changes (time lag).

In order to protect vulnerable groundwater resources it is the policy of the Environment Agency
to encourage new developments to be located in areas of low vulnerability to groundwater
pollution. However, this policy does not imply an automatic prohibition on such projects within
source protection zones.
 • Can the bridge adapt to a changing world and how we use our infrastructure?

Refer to pdfs:

http://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/153433/1/263.pdf

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15732479.2019.1670215?needAccess=true

Changing world: 1. Climate Change

Climate changes Impact on bridges Adaptation

Increase in precipitation  Accelerated material  New resilient material
degradation development
 Cathodic protection
 Increase in concrete
cover thickness
 Higher flood levels and 
more frequent flooding
 Higher hydrostatic
pressure behind
abutments and
retaining walls
 Higher risk of soil
liquefaction
 Higher risk of collapse
settlement
Higher temperatures  Accelerated material 
degradation
 Higher thermal induced
stresses
 More violent storm
surges
 Faster loss of
prestressing force
 Less stable side slopes
Decrease in precipitation  Higher risk of 
consolidation
settlement
 Biodegradation of
timber piles
 Loss of buoyancy forces
on piles
Increase in solar radiation  Accelerated material 
degradation
 Higher thermal induced
stresses
Changes in relative humidity  Accelerated material 
degradation
 Faster loss of
prestressing force
Higher carbon concentrations  Accelerated material 

Melting of ice sheets and
permafrost
Increase in
intensity/frequency of
extreme wind events
Increase in storm intensity/
frequency
degradation
 Higher flood levels and
more frequent flooding
 Higher flood levels and 
more frequent flooding
 Higher scour rates
 Higher risk of 
aeroelastic instabilities
and wind-induced loads
 Less stable side slopes
 Higher flood levels and 
more frequent flooding
 more violent storm
surges
Changing world: 2. Adopting New Technology

The construction industry, as a whole, is notoriously slow at adopting new technologies. Countless
studies and surveys over the years have shown that business owners continue to underinvest in
technology, despite their acknowledgment of the many benefits that technology can provide to
running their business and managing construction projects.

Latest example integrating technology in bridge design: Queensferry crossing bridge – Traffic
management using ITS (Intelligent Transport Solution) to help keep traffic moving, improve safety
and reduce vehicle emissions. These include the first use of a controlled ITS environment in Scotland
using variable mandatory speed limits, a parallel public transport route, bus lane hard shoulder use
and above ground vehicle detection. The integrated “managed crossing scheme”, pivotal to the
project’s viability and ultimate user experience, enables the Forth Road Bridge to continue to be
used as a public transport corridor. This, combined with the innovative cable design and the
implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), reduced the need for significant expansion of
the existing road network, allowing the overall scheme budget to be reduced by over £2 billion ($2.5
billion). The Jacobs Arup JV also provided guidance into the design of the bridge’s cable-stayed
solution, which allows individual strands within each cable to be replaced if required without the
need to close the Queensferry Crossing. Wind shields and a structural health monitoring system
have been implemented to help enhance reliability.

The Scotney Bridge, on the A21 in England, is a picture-perfect example of building in a way that
minimizes harm to the environment. The overpass is essentially a land bridge, which allows
wildlife to cross the road safely and even provides nesting grounds for some species.