Publications / CSCE/CRC 2025 - Montreal, Canada
Large-scale infrastructures including bridges are designed for long lifespans and yet require substantial materials such as concrete and steel, which have high impacts on the environment. Therefore, considering the sustainability requirements early during the design stage is crucial. Life cycle assessment (LCA), which is a systematic and standardized approach for quantifying these environmental impacts, provides designers a better insight to develop eco-friendly solutions that reduce these long-term impacts. It also helps decision-makers to compare different design alternatives and select the one that meets the set sustainability goals. This paper introduces an innovative computer model to minimize the gaps between designing bridges and analyzing their environmental impacts to help engineers investigate and evaluate the design's impact early in the conceiving process. The developed model is a standalone graphical user interface (GUI) that provides a platform to input, process and analyze necessary data for evaluating the environmental impacts across various LCA stages. The development methodology used in this study starts by collecting and storing essential data in a database created for that purpose in Excel and MySQL and thereafter mapping the data with the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), specifically the Ecoinvent database. Afterwards, the model's implementation and creation of the user interface are fulfilled by using C# programming language and openLCA platform. Finally, the model's generated outcomes are provided to users in graphical and tabulated formats. The said model will offer a practical and efficient solution to integrate sustainability requirements during the early stages of designing bridges and will facilitate making informed decisions to minimize their environmental impacts.