Publication Date

2017-05-11

Availability

Open access

Embargo Period

2017-05-11

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (Engineering)

Date of Defense

2017-05-08

First Committee Member

Antonio Nanni

Second Committee Member

Matthew Jacob Trussoni

Third Committee Member

James Giancaspro

Fourth Committee Member

Esber Andiroglu

Fifth Committee Member

Wangda Zuo

Abstract

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an important tool assessing environmental impacts of the entire life cycle of a product or service. It provides an alternative method to enable reducing carbon emission and embodied energy (EE). The purpose of this study is to use LCA to compare two different structural materials used as reinforcement in a concrete bridge. The two materials are conventional steel reinforcement and Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP). The results show that FRP reinforced bridge produces 50% less carbon dioxide and requires 59% less EE throughout all the stages of LCA based on predicted equal life-span of two bridge applications.

Keywords

Life Cycle Assessment, Fiber Reinforced Polymer, Carbon Emission, Embodied Energy

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