Glue-laminated timber bridges as an alternative to concrete bridges for spans up to 28m

Abstract

A glued-laminated timber bridge was designed and compared to an e x i s t i n g concrete bridge. I n i t i a l and long-term costs were both considered in the e v a l u a t i o n of the two types of bridge c o n s t r u c t i o n . The i n i t i a l cost of a glued-laminated timber bridge i s higher than the i n i t i a l cost of a concrete bridge but the long-term costs are lower f o r t h e timber bridge. This is because timber w i l l last as much as three times longer than concrete.