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Section 6 - Quantification of Socioeconomic Impacts
Pages 19-31

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From page 19...
... UHPC-C improves bridge performance by decreasing maintenance and increasing life expectancy, reducing the need for future construction. The use of PBEs also decreases field construction time, decreasing travel disruptions, reducing emissions, and increasing safety.
From page 20...
... N���: PB = prefabricated bridge element; TFHRC = FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center; UHPC = ultra-high performance concrete; UHPC-C = UHPC connections. Figure 6-1.
From page 21...
... Net benefits of UHPC-C depend on the attributes of each bridge implementation project. As discussed in Section 5, interviews indicated that the benefits of using PBE bridge decks with UHPC-C vary by project characteristics, including traffic, climate, and whether the bridge crosses water.
From page 22...
... Although the current cost of UHPC use is high, only a small amount is needed for bridge connections, limiting the impact on bridge construction costs. Interviews indicated that substi tuting UHPC for conventional concrete in bridge connections might increase bridge construc tion costs by only 1% to 2%.
From page 23...
... The quantitative analysis focuses on bridge performance benefits resulting from the use of UHPC-C and the benefits associated with increased adoption of ABC methods driven by UHPC-C. The hypothesis is that TFHRC research on and promotion of UHPC-C increased adoption, which in turn increased PBE adoption -- predominantly for ABC methods -- and the realization of associated benefits.3 The main benefits of PBE and ABC adoption are increased bridge performance and decreased construction time, each of which is discussed in the following subsections.
From page 24...
... × (value per commercial transport Adoption of hour) and business travel PBEs and ABC, Reduced vehicle Value of reduced greenhouse Which Reduce emissions gas emissions Field General Reduced traffic Construction public Value of avoided injury and Increased safety accidents in Time death construction zones General Reduced construction Value of avoided injury and contractors worker accidents death N��� = ABC = accelerated bridge construction; PBE = prefabricated bridge element; TFHRC = FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center; UHPC = ultra-high performance concrete.
From page 25...
... and a project using conventional construction methods with CC-C (ProjectCC) indicates the full benefits of using ABC methods over conventional construction methods without accounting for any direct performance benefits of using UHPC-C, as captured in the equation.
From page 26...
... c Sample reduced to non-UHPC-C ABC bridges with available estimates for conventional construction costs. S�����: Cost information is from the Florida International University ABC Project Database (2021)
From page 27...
... can be aggregated over the evaluation period and added to the onetime net Table 6-6.   UHPC-C net benefits per square foot of bridge. Metric Low High Onetime UHPC-C net benefits $8 $18 = ABC field construction time savings $14 $24 attributable to UHPC-C use − UHPC-C construction costs $6 $6 Annual UHPC-C bridge performance benefits $1 $4 N���: ABC = accelerated bridge construction; UHPC-C = ultra-high performance concrete connections.
From page 28...
... These data allowed the evaluation to scale the estimated UHPC-C benefits per square foot of bridge to a national level on the basis of the aggregate square footage of past projects by year. Table 6-7 shows the counts of UHPC-C applications for PBE deck slabs by region and crossing feature from the TFHRC database.
From page 29...
... Table 6-9.   Potential UHPC-C bridge construction, by region and crossing feature, 2019–2028. Crossing Feature Region Water Road Railroad Other Northeast 308 236 31 4 Midwest 40 9 0 0 West 89 8 12 1 South 15 1 0 0 N���: UHPC-C = ultra-high performance concrete connections.
From page 30...
... . 6.4  Estimate Benefits Attributable to TFHRC The evaluation aggregated the estimated present value of realized and future benefits of using UHPC-C for past and likely future bridge projects throughout the United States, then attributed a portion of these benefits to TFHRC technology transfer efforts in the form of either research or dissemination.
From page 31...
... Even when comparing TFHRC UHPC-C research program costs with only the realized net benefits of UHPC-C attributable to TFHRC, the analysis suggests a realized NPV of $9.4 million to $39.1 million and a BCR of 4.0 to 13.6, meaning that for every dollar of TFHRC investments in UHPC-C research and dissemination, a minimum of $4.00 in national-level benefits was already realized between 2011 and 2018. Comparing TFHRC UHPC-C research program costs with the total realized and future net benefits of UHPC-C attributable to TFHRC suggests an NPV of $62.9 million to $226.3 million and a BCR of 21.2 to 73.8, meaning that for every dollar of TFHRC investments in UHPC-C research and dissemination, a minimum of $21.20 in national-level benefits will be realized between 2011 and 2028.


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