CircuBridge, a web-based circularity assessment application implemented into a bridge design workflow

The Construction Industry (CI) is undergoing a digital transformation, with Building
Information Modelling (BIM) as part of the emergence of the CI 4.0. Concurrently, the need
for circular practices in bridge construction is underscored by the Dutch government’s target
of transitioning to a Circular Economy (CE) by 2050 and Rijkswaterstaat, who aim to work
following circular principles in 2030. Despite extensive research on circularity and the CE,
practical tools for evaluating circularity in the CI, particularly at the meso-scale of bridge
design, remain scarce and insufficient. To address this gap, this study aims to develop a webbased circulatory decision-making application tailored for bridge design within a BIM
framework.
Methodologically, the research involves three stages: a systematic literature review to identify
opportunities and integration strategies for a bridge design assessment tool, followed by
expert interviews to bridge theoretical insights with practical implementation challenges.
Consequently, the development of a web-based application is initiated, using the spiral model
of a system life cycle. The proposed framework for circularity assessment in bridge design
utilizes a grading system between 0.1 and 1.0 to evaluate three indicators: input,
environmental impact, and output. These indicators are used to assess the circular value of
bridge elements, with the overall circular value of the bridge calculated as the average of two
life cycles. The research findings emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary approaches,
BIM environments, and data-driven decision-making supported by environmental databases
in addressing circularity challenges in bridge construction.
The resulting web-based application, named CircuBridge, offers comprehensive functionalities
within a single dashboard, enabling bridge engineers to assess circularity throughout the
design lifecycle and support decision-making. CircuBridge facilitates a visual model,
interaction with bridge elements, specification of properties for circularity assessment, and
provides detailed insights into design choices. Technical and user validations confirm the
effectiveness of CircuBridge in assessing the circular value of bridges and their elements. In
conclusion, CircuBridge fills a crucial gap in the CI by integrating circularity assessment into a
BIM framework, offering significant potential for facilitating circular design decisions in bridge
engineering.