📋 Tender Overview
May 17 this year. another meeting of the Scientific Council at the General Director of National Roads and Motorways took place. We discussed the technical condition of bridges as well as innovative methods and technologies of their maintenance. The topic of steel used in construction was also discussed as well as the impact of construction products and technologies in infrastructure construction on the natural environment.The number of bridge structures has almost tripledDuring the meeting the Report on the technical condition of GDDKiAs bridges was discussed. At the end of 2020 the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways managed 8924 bridge structures with a total length of over 502 km and an area of approximately 7.2 million m2 . The averaged GDDKiA bridge structure was thus approx. 56 m long over 14 m wide and had an area of 807 m2. It is worth noting that from the moment of establishing GDDKiA in 2002 until the end of 2021 the number of bridges we manage increased from 3370 to 9256. This means an almost threefold increase. Interestingly the meeting of the Scientific Council took place on the eve of the jubilee tenth Mostowiec Day. We wrote about this important holiday for bridge builders on our website . Adequate technical conditionFor 48 percent prestressed concrete is the main construction material of the load-bearing structure of bridge structures managed by GDDKiA. In the case of less than 38 percent. it is reinforced concrete and more than 13 percent. steel. When it comes to the surface of the objects prestressed concrete is dominant with a result of over 60.The aforementioned report also showed that 73 percent. GDDKiAs bridge structures are in appropriate or satisfactory technical condition. In the case of over 24 percent. maintenance or repair work has been recommended the source of which does not interfere with day-to-day operation. Only about 2 percent of the time requires more serious repairs. objects the state of which also does not qualify objects for exclusion from traffic. On some of them work is already underway while on others a temporary change in traffic organization has been introduced e.g. by limiting the speed. All bridge structures are safe for their users.More properties mean more reviewsEvery year the number of road inspections of engineering structures performed by external companies increases. This is related to both the large increase in the number of such facilities and the declining human resources of GDDKiA in terms of bridge inspectors.Cyclical structured monitoring of our facilities allows us to gradually improve their condition e.g. thanks to proper planning of the necessary work. State-of-the-art technological solutions are used to monitor the technical condition of bridges.This year we have also implemented a model contract for basic extended and detailed inspections of road engineering structures. This was to organize the requirements for their implementation. In order to improve the quality of studies and facilitate the verification of the inspection performed we have introduced among others obligation to prepare photo documentation also during the basic inspection.Steel ductility standardsDuring the meeting the topic of standards and ductility classes of reinforcing steel used in concrete structures of bridge structures was also discussed. GDDKiA together with the scientific community will work to change the ductility standards for reinforcing steel in such a way that they meet the current needs. We will also be supported in this by the Polish Committee for Standardization.Currently the selection of steel for the reinforcement of concrete bridges in Poland is very often limited to determining its strength. However it is also worth taking into account other parameters apart from tensile strength which may positively affect the safety of the structure.The recommendations developed by GDDKiA and the scientific community regarding the use of ductility classes of reinforcing steel to make load-bearing reinforcement assumethe use of reinforcing steel for road bridges with ductility class C in relation to unstressed elements of the spans of the bridge structuresuse of reinforcing steel for road bridges with ductility class at least B in relation to prestressed elements of spans of bridge structures as well as supports and foundations of these structures.Out of concern for the natural environmentTaking into account both environmental and economic aspects decisive action is necessary and the transformation of the construction sector towards a circular managed in a closed-loop economy model.According to the European Union requirements construction works during their construction use and demolition cannot exert an excessive influence on the quality of the environment or the climate. Their construction must use energy-saving technologies and environmentally friendly materials. Certain components must also be recyclable in the event of demolition.At the meeting of the Scientific Council among others the issue of re-building the asphalt reclaimed during road renovation. You can read more about the use of the destruct in our April release .We are also working on this issue as part of a joint undertaking of GDDKiA and the National Center for Research and Development NCBiR which consists in supporting scientific research in the field of road construction. The expected end product of this cooperation will be technical guidelines allowing the maximum use of reclaimed asphalt from SMA layers for new SMA mixes.
