According to a new study jointly completed by several Norwegian institutions, aluminum will be a low-cost and climate adaptable bridge construction material in the construction of Norway's new coastal highway, and it is also a steel alternative.

Hydro and an external team of renowned structural engineers, business experts and researchers investigated the feasibility and cost of replacing traditional steel with aluminum for long suspension bridges.

Thomas B. Svendsen, marketing manager, extrusion solutions, hydro, said, "this study is encouraging and has the potential to serve as a model for future bridge construction, and also as an example of collaboration to develop new uses of aluminum. The most important thing is that it will be the longest aluminum bridge in the world, with a length of 1720 meters. Among them, 1250 meters will be made of aluminum, and the corresponding aluminum consumption is equivalent to 8000 to 10000 tons

In the langenuen bridge project in Norway, the team studied whether all the relevant design criteria of the bridge, including global stability, local stability, fatigue, ultimate global stress levels and deflections, could be met through aluminum solutions.

Daniel tran, a risk Engineer at the Norwegian public roads administration, said: "aluminum for bridges has many advantages. The aluminum bridge will not corrode because the oxide layer of aluminum can prevent corrosion. Therefore, there is no need to paint. Aluminum in the bridge is a material that can be completely recycled, and the recovery rate is 100%. Therefore, the selection of aluminum bridge is an excellent choice, which can not only meet the climate adaptability, but also reduce the cost

The proposed langenuen bridge is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Norway and is part of the new E39 coastal highway route. It aims to improve travel efficiency and reduce costs by replacing ferries with bridges.

Langenuen suspension bridge - aluminum bridge alternatives report states that time and money can be saved in production, materials and maintenance by moving from steel to aluminum. In addition, the technology can also be applied to other suspension bridges.

This report was written by many units, including independent structural engineering consulting company Dr.techn , Olav Olsen, hydro, leading EPC (Engineering, procurement and construction) suppliers leirvik as and NTNU. DNV GL is also involved as a third-party verification agency.

Guido Sabatini, technical manager of architecture and standards at the European aluminum, said, "we are pleased to see the potential of aluminum in new approaches to structural applications. In addition, the new Eurocode 9 (reference standard for the design of aluminium structures) will include additional provisions applicable to the structural design of aluminium bridges. This is interesting because structural engineers will then be able to refer to a uniform set of design rules that will help replace more and more traditional steel with aluminum in their projects. "

"Since the results of the langenuen study are very positive and exciting, this could be the beginning of a new approach that sees aluminum as a robust and durable material that can be used in large infrastructure projects," said Trond Furu, research manager at the Hyderabad technology center. The main advantages of aluminum bridges can be summarized as follows: light weight; no maintenance (no rust), no paint or surface treatment; lower carbon footprint and faster production speed compared with steel; unique opportunities and advantages of formability and climate adaptability; less welding work required during construction; faster construction speed; recyclability, etc

Currently, the project team has entered phase 2 to review the remaining technical issues and methods and determine if the project can become a reality.

Furu said, "there is good cooperation between the hydro technology center and the business unit of hydro, which facilitates the development of such projects. We believe that aluminum has great application opportunities in a range of new applications and effectively compete with steel and other materials in more applications. "