Rehabilitation of steel bridges in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Nearly one half of the approximately 3700 highway bridges on A and B class roads of Sri Lanka are more than 50 years old. About 60% of the total bridges have a width of less than 8.0 m; out of these 689 are steel bridges. Most of these steel bridges would need upgrading in future to cater for present day traffic needs. The upgrading option can be either replacement or rehabilitation. Rehabilitation can be quite attractive if it can have cost savings and fewer disturbances to traffic. In this paper, various options available for rehabilitation of steel bridges arc reviewed. The methods better suited for Sri Lanka arc identified. The criteria to determine the economic feasibility arc highlighted. The anticipated cost of replacement is determined to indicate the importance of adopting rehabilitation whenever cost effective.