Climate Change Impacts on Reinforced Concrete Deterioration for Texas Highway Bridges

Texas has more than 55,000 bridges, where more than 50% of the bridges are over 40 years old, approaching their design life span with increasing maintenance and rehabilitation needs. Despite the ever-increasing traffic demand due to population increase and urbanization, bridge assets are also exposed to more intense environmental threats due to climate change, degrading their structural condition and traffic carrying functionality. This study examines the climate change impacts on the deterioration of transportation infrastructure, particularly concrete highway bridges in Texas. Mechanics-based reinforced concrete deterioration models are coupled with state-of-the-art climate change forecasts to study the influence of climate change on the deterioration of concrete highway bridges. Sensitivity analyses are conducted via MonteCarlo simulation to quantify time-dependent carbonation and chloride-induced corrosion damage risks in three representative locations (i.e., Houston, Dallas, and Amarillo) in Texas. The findings can better inform decision-making for climate adaptation in bridge asset management.