SECTION 7
Concluding Remarks
The key benefits of UHPC-C are that they are more durable compared with conventional concrete and they help enable ABC methods that substantially reduce the amount of field construction time needed to construct a bridge. Data on ABC bridge construction costs and benefits for bridges built with and without UHPC-C from 2011 through 2018 suggest an average onetime net benefit of using UHPC-C of $8 to $18 per square foot of bridge. Data on average annual rehabilitation costs per square foot of bridge from Kentucky and New York imply an added annual benefit of $1 to $4 per square foot per year. Applying this annual benefit to the total square footage of all bridges built using UHPC-C between 2011 and 2018 suggests an aggregate present value of benefits of $20.8 million to $56.3 million already realized. Projecting this aggregate present value onto the number of bridge projects likely to be completed using UHPC-C between 2019 and 2028 suggests a discounted future present value of benefits of $89.1 million to $249.6 million.
The realized and potential future present value of benefits reasonably attributable to the efforts of TFHRC to research and promote UHPC-C use ranges from $66.0 million to $229.4 million. Comparing these benefits with the discounted present value of TFHRC UHPC-C research and dissemination activities from 2009 through 2017 of $3.1 million suggests a total NPV of $62.9 million to $226.3 million and a BCR of 21.2 to 73.8. Together, these results suggest substantial benefits of UHPC-C use and strong positive national-level returns to TFHRC UHPC-C research activities.
TFHRC UHPC-C research initiatives align well with FHWA’s strategy, and interviews suggested that TFHRC had a substantial impact on U.S. UHPC-C adoption. The key remaining barriers to adoption of UHPC-C are the high costs of the material itself and of the equipment and labor required to apply the material. Interviews suggested that additional TFHRC standards for producing and testing generic UHPC mixes could further help decrease materials costs. Interviews also suggested that additional demonstration projects could help contractors increase their familiarity with UHPC-C application best practices in varying field conditions. Such demonstration projects would also allow owner agencies to observe the benefits of the material. The belief among SMEs is that as contractors and owners become more familiar with UHPC-C, its use will increase and the materials costs of UHPC will decrease; thus, adoption will continue to increase.
