Application of sustainability design to an existing viaduct in a hilly area

The World Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations defined “sustainable development” for the first time in 1987, indicating the necessity for considering development that fulfils the needs of both present and future generations. However, the current situation of the sharp growth in the population and resources/energy consumption that adversely affects the global climate has been adding significance to the concept of sustainable development. From this background, the authors proposed a sustainability design system. This design method includes systems to clearly set the performance requirements to be considered with respect to social, economic, and environmental aspects, calculate the attained performance, and verify if the performance requirements are met. This paper describes the application feasibility of the sustainability design through the above procedures using an existing prestressed concrete viaduct. Additionally, comprehensive evaluation is carried out regarding the relationship between the elements of sustainability in comparison with the general method to clarify the effectiveness of sustainability design. It is concluded that sustainability design system has great potential of its applicability to concrete structures and promoting technical innovation based on setting of high-performance requirements.