Proceedings of the Institution of

Civil Engineers
Bridge Engineering 156
March 2004 Issue BE1
Pages 9^18
Chanakya Arya Perry R. Vassie
Paper 13473
Senior Lecturer, University Visiting Professor,
Received 18/08/2003
College London, UK University College London,
Accepted 20/12/2003
UK
Keywords:
bridges/economics & finance/
tendering

Whole life cost analysis in concrete bridge tender

evaluation
C. Arya and P. R. Vassie
In the UK large sums of money are spent annually on the maintenance, such as The Highways Agency, London Under-
repair and maintenance of structures. To avoid this pro- ground, Rail Track (now Network Rail) and the British Airports
blem in future construction, many government and pri- Authority now appreciate the need to appraise projects in terms
vate agencies responsible for asset management have of whole life costs rather than just initial construction costs
recommended that designers should develop schemes because of the large sums of money spent annually on
that seek to minimise whole life costs, namely construc- maintenance of structures. Indeed, the Highways Agency
tion plus maintenance costs, rather than just initial con- published both a Standard and an Advice note on the subject2
struction costs. Currently there is no standard procedure some 10 years ago. These documents are now in the process of
for evaluating tenders in terms of whole life costs and being revised and reissued.3 Nevertheless, it would appear that
therefore no way of checking that this recommendation is although the basic principles of WLCA are quite well under-
being fully implemented. This paper describes a straight- stood and appreciated by engineers, a standard procedure for
forward model that can be used to assess the whole life implementation does not exist. In the impasse, designers
costs of concrete bridges exploiting alternative durability continue to produce schemes with low initial construction costs
options and shows how this model could be incorporated but potentially high maintenance costs.4 Not surprisingly, this
in the tendering process. lack of a procedure discourages the uptake of new technology,
stifles innovation and ultimately prevents engineers acting in
NOTATION the best interests of their clients.
Ci initial construction cost
C1, C2 cost of first and second maintenance treatments In an effort to resolve this problem, the authors have focused
Co current maintenance cost attention on the problem of deteriorating concrete bridges and
Fo current traffic flow rate how WLCA could be used to appraise a number of schemes that
c depth of concrete cover exploit alternative strategies for durable construction. Specifi-
CT chloride threshold value cally, the work has considered two aspects, namely
Cs surface chloride content
Cb initial chloride content . development of a procedure for evaluating whole life costs
Da apparent chloride diffusion coefficient using straightforward calculations
fcu cube compressive strength of concrete . application of this procedure to the tendering process.
fst splitting tensile strength of concrete
R corrosion rate (mm/year) The purpose of this paper is to describe a simple model that can
Ti initiation time be used to assess the whole life costs of concrete bridges
Tc time to cracking of the concrete, exploiting alternative design, detailing, material and/or con-
Xc loss of steel bar diameter in micrometres when struction options to enhance durability and to show how this
cracking occurs could be incorporated in the tendering process. We begin by
w/b water/binder ratio outlining the general principles of WLCA using the model
f bar diameter (mm) shown in Fig. 1.

1. INTRODUCTION 2. WHOLE LIFE COST ANALYSIS

Whole life cost analysis (WLCA) is a technique that can be used
to determine, in current cost terms, the expenditure needed to 2.1. General principles
construct and operate an asset over its full design life.1 The Whole life costing in its simplest form just compares the sum of
technique can be used to compare the lifetime costs of a range the costs of construction and maintenance over the design life
of options for a given scheme, thereby allowing the most cost- of the structure. This approach is not satisfactory in modern
effective option to be selected. economics where the value of money varies with time. For
example money can be invested so that its value in the future is
Many government and private agencies responsible for asset greater in real terms even after the effects of inflation have

Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie 9

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 remaining life of the struc-
ture, maintenance will again
be necessary. The cycle of
deterioration followed by
repair may be repeated inde-
finitely until the target life of
the structure is reached.

For the example shown in

Fig. 1 it can be seen that two
maintenance treatments will
be necessary in order that the
structure reaches its target
life. The whole life cost then
is given by the sum of the
Fig. 1. Whole life cost model initial construction cost (Ci) at
time t ¼ 0, plus the cost of
two maintenance treatments
(C1 and C2). Note that money
been taken into account. Whole life costing is combined with a on construction and first and second maintenance is spent at
technique called discounted cash flow to incorporate changes in different times during the life of the structure and this feature is
the value of money during the design life of the structure. In taken into account when calculating whole life costs.
theory, the model calculates the amount of money that needs to
be invested at the time of construction in order to pay for all The model can be equally easily applied to other maintenance
the maintenance that is expected to be needed during the strategies such as those involving the use of preventative
design life of the bridge. The sum of this amount and the maintenance and repairs to reduce the rate of deterioration,
construction cost represents the whole life cost. In practice thereby deferring or avoiding the need for strengthening and
maintenance is not funded in this way, but the model still rehabilitation.
provides a good way of estimating lifetime costs and for
comparing the relative cost effectiveness of a number of
2.2. Cost estimates
construction options because it estimates the lifetime cost for
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that to calculate the
each option at a particular point in time. For publicly managed
whole life costs of structures, various items of information will
bridges the finance for bridge maintenance comes from
be needed, namely
taxation revenue after a process of bidding, assessment and
allocation. For design, build, finance and operate (DBFO)-
. the cost of construction at t ¼ 0
managed bridges the finance for future maintenance would be
. the MFL of the structure
planned to be paid out of the national road tolls paid to the
. the cost of the maintenance work required
operator on the basis of the number of vehicles crossing the
. the life of the maintenance treatment
bridge.
. the time value of money (discount rate).
An example of the application of this model is shown in Fig. 1.
This model has been made intentionally very simple so that the Each of these aspects is discussed briefly below.
principles are easily understood. In reality a bridge may have
many maintenance treatments during its life. The maintenance 2.2.1. Cost of construction and MFL. Ideally, increased spend-
strategy adopted in this example is that (a) maintenance will ing on cost of construction should increase MFL and reduce
only be carried out when the structure becomes substandard whole life costs. However, higher initial construction costs may
and is no longer able to safely carry the loads to which it is simply be indicative of uncompetitive tendering. Consider for
subjected and (b) the maintenance done at this time will restore example the case of concrete bridges, which have a long history
the structure to its original state. The state of the bridge is of durability problems. Reinforcement corrosion is arguably the
represented by an arbitrary condition value that in the example most widespread form of deterioration of concrete bridges.
is 4, when originally constructed and decreases progressively Latest estimates suggest that approximately £100 million is
with time to reach a value of 2 when it first becomes spent annually on the maintenance of trunk road concrete
substandard. It is assumed that maintenance in the form of bridges in the UK, a sizeable percentage of which is spent on
strengthening and rehabilitation is then carried out returning dealing with the problem of reinforcement corrosion. Nearly all
the condition to a value of 4 and reducing the subsequent rate concrete bridges suffer from reinforcement corrosion at some
of deterioration, which is represented by the slope of the point during their life since all trunk roads are treated with rock
deterioration line. The time interval between t ¼ 0 and the time salt deicer during the winter to prevent accidents. Therefore,
to first maintenance is referred to as the maintenance free life much research has been directed at developing methods aimed
(MFL) of the structure and is a function of the durability of the at preventing this problem in new construction. Table 1 lists
original design. some of the more common solutions that have been suggested.
Some options are clearly more expensive than others (e.g. non-
If the condition state of the structure drops to level 2 during the corrodible reinforcement versus increased cover), and care must

10 Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Durability option Examples Mechanism

Concrete coating (a) waterproofing membrane5 Prevent contact between concrete and chloride ions
(b) paint
Concrete impregnant6 (a) silane Make concrete surface hydrophobic to repel aqueous
(b) siloxane solutions
Increased cover Increase the time for chloride ions to diffuse to the
reinforcement
Concrete modifications (a) low water/cement ratio To reduce the rate of diffusion of chlorides
(b) cement replacement materials
(c) permeable formwork
Steel coatings (a) epoxy coating* To prevent corrosion when chlorides reach the
(b) galvanising reinforcement
Cathodic prevention (a) impressed current To prevent corrosion when chlorides reach the
(b) sacrificial reinforcement and to repel Cl ions from the
reinforcement
Non corrodible reinforcement7 (a) glass fibre Not susceptible to corrosion in saline media
(b) carbon fibre
(c) stainless steel8
Modified design details7 (a) continuous decks Eliminate the need for expansion joints and prevent
(b) integral abutments chloride leakage onto the surface
(c) bridge enclosure9 To minimise condensation and chloride exposure of
concrete soffits and steel beams
(d) waterproofing membrane To prevent moisture/chloride ingress to bridge deck

* No longer manufactured in the UK.

Table 1. Durability options for concrete bridges

be taken to ensure that any increased expenditure on yield mean values or simple probability distributions of MFL. In
construction costs is more than compensated by reduced time the expert opinion could be replaced with information
maintenance costs, leading to a reduced whole life cost. from the maintenance database. Models used to predict various
forms of degradation have been developed by a number of
Standard surveying procedures can be used to estimate the authors and could also be used to predict MFL. Nearly all
construction cost of bridges that use a given durability option. corrosion models are based on the concept of initiation time
It is recommended that items in Bills of Quantities should be and propagation time devised by Tuutti.10 There is some
collected such that it is possible to calculate the cost of variation in how these times are calculated and The Highways
individual elements of the structure. Different elements of Agency,11 Roberts et al.,12 Sarja and Vesikari13 and Bamforth14
bridges are often constructed from different materials and are have developed useful models. Bamforth’s model14 is perhaps
exposed to different microclimates; hence they deteriorate at the most comprehensive. It suggests that chloride-induced
different rates and will therefore need maintenance at different reinforcement corrosion can be modelled as a three-stage
times. Thus WLCA should be carried out separately for each process: (a) initiation; (b) propagation; and (c) cracking and
element of the structure and the results ultimately combined to spalling.
give the lifetime cost for the whole structure.
The time at which the chloride content at the steel surface first
Estimating the MFL of a scheme that exploits a particular exceeds a critical or threshold level is normally termed the
durability option is likely to prove more difficult. Theoretically, initiation time, Ti, and can be estimated using equation (1)
one of three possible approaches could be used: (a) collation
  
and analysis of in-service performance data; (b) expert opinion; c2 C T
C s
2
1 Ti ¼ erf
1
and (c) via a model of the degradation process. The first 4Da Cb
Cs
approach is perhaps the best long-term solution. It requires
access to a database with appropriate data fields such as a where c is the depth of concrete cover, Da is the apparent
register of relevant structures, a full set of as-built drawings chloride diffusion coefficient, CT is the chloride threshold value
and the types and timings of all maintenance activities. Clearly needed for corrosion to begin, Cs is the chloride content on the
the more populated the database the more reliable the estimate surface and Cb is the initial chloride content. This equation is in
of MFL. The second approach would involve a facilitator who essence a rearrangement of the solution of Fick’s second law
would lead a discussion and question a carefully selected group applied to diffusion into a semi-infinite medium.15 Field
of experts on their opinion as to the probable maximum, experience suggests that Cs may be taken as 0·8% Cl by weight
typical and minimum MFL of given durability options. The of cement and that CT should be taken no higher than 0·4% Cl
experts could be drawn from client organisations, maintaining (by weight of cement) for Portland cement (PC) concrete. Da is
agents and researchers. The results could be pooled in order to an averaged value of diffusion coefficient over the period of

Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie 11

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 exposure and, when used in combination with Cs, should This means that the models cannot reliably be applied to
provide a chloride profile comparable with that found in bridges in general, but only in particular cases in which the
practice. Over the normal range of water/binder ratios and cover depth, type of exposure, and chloride concentration at
assuming an exposure period of 20 years, Da can be estimated the reinforcement depth are known. Furthermore some of the
from equation (2) for PC concrete data required as inputs are difficult to determine with sufficient
precision. For example, the threshold chloride concentration for
2 log Da ¼
12926 þ 1999ðw=bÞ corrosion initiation is known to vary unpredictably from about
0·2 to 1% chloride ion by weight of cement in different
This equation represents the best fit of empirical data relating situations. The actual value chosen will have a significant
Da and water/binder ratio. influence on the initiation time for corrosion calculated in
equation (1). The assumptions made in the models can lead to
The second stage, which is termed propagation, is principally a over-simplification, which again will introduce errors into the
function of the rate of corrosion. Analysis of empirical data outputs. For example the model assumes that chloride ingress
suggests a strong link between corrosion rate, exposure into concrete occurs entirely by a diffusion mechanism defined
condition and chloride content at the bar. On this basis and by Fick’s Second Law of Diffusion. In practice the conditions
using data presented by Andrade and Alonso,16 Bamforth14has for semi-infinite linear diffusion required by Fick’s Law do not
proposed the following equations for predicting corrosion rate strictly occur on a concrete bridge so the law is only an
(R): approximation to the real situation. Of even greater importance
is the fact that chloride ingress occurs by two main mechan-
3 Wet, rarely dry R ¼ 0:84e0:64Cx isms: diffusion and capillary action. The latter mechanism can
result in significant quantities of chloride ingress to a concrete
4 Airborne sea water and cyclic wet/dry R ¼ 0:54e1:56Cx bridge where the wetting of a dry surface with salt solution is a
frequent event, such as during the winter in temperate zones.
5 Tidal zone R ¼ 0:46e1:84Cx
Caution needs to be exercised in using any of these approaches
since they are empirically based and may not always be
These equations assume the corrosion is general. If the
applicable. It is important therefore that any estimate of MFL is
corrosion is localised, leading to pitting, the local rates of
tempered with engineering judgment. The importance of
corrosion may be up to ten times faster. Corrosion rates are also
developing rational maintenance strategies and programmes
sensitive to temperature and presumably these equations
means that it is essential to apply the available knowledge to
represent an average corrosion rate at ambient conditions for
model deterioration even though there are a number of
structures.
limitations currently associated with these models. Regular
application of these models together with the collection of data
The time to cracking is a function of the rate of corrosion and
input values should result in progressive improvements to their
the ability of the concrete surrounding the reinforcement to
accuracy and reliability.
accommodate stresses caused by the corrosion products which
have a much larger volume, by about two to four times that of
2.2.2. Cost of maintenance work. The cost of maintenance work
uncorroded steel. Based on a review of empirical models for
may also be difficult to estimate as it depends on a number of
predicting the consequences of corrosion, Bamforth14 suggests
factors, such as (a) engineering costs; (b) traffic management
that the loss of steel bar diameter in micrometres when
costs; and (c) user delay costs.
cracking occurs, Xc, can be estimated from
In whole life cost calculations the cost of maintenance prior to
6 Xc ¼ 838 þ 74ðc=fÞ
226fst
discounting is normally taken to be the same as that pertaining
at the design stage. The cost is not increased to take account of
where c is the depth of cover in mm; f is the bar diameter in the effects of inflation in the interval before maintenance is
mm; fst is the splitting tensile strength of concrete ¼ expected to be needed, partly because these are difficult to
0108½ fcu ð1 þ 0399 log fcu Þ
53340722 ; in which fcu is the predict and partly because inflation will influence the different
cube compressive strength of concrete maintenance options in proportion to their cost hence their
ranking will not be affected.
The time to cracking of the concrete, Tc, is obtained from
Engineering costs are a function of many variables including
7 Tc ¼ Xc =R the maintenance strategy, and the extent and severity of the
deterioration. Some items of maintenance work can be clearly
Finally, the MFL is obtained by summing the time to corrosion identified at the design stage, for example, replacement of
initiation plus the time to cracking as MFL ¼ Ti þ Tc . joints, replacement of bearings, replacement of waterproofing,
etc. and realistic cost estimates obtained. This type of work is
It should be appreciated that the value of MFL resulting from well defined and should prove relatively easy to cost. However,
this and indeed all other models is quite sensitive to the value the same may not be true for other items of work. For example,
of some of the input parameters notably (a) the depth of cover it would not be an easy matter to predict the extent of defective
(Ti is proportional to c2 in equation (1)); and (b) the corrosion concrete after, for example, 20 years service life or the cost of
rate, which in turn is sensitive to the chloride concentration the remedial treatment. Nonetheless, historical cost information
around the reinforcement (equations (3) to (5) and (7)). is available and can assist in making such predictions.

12 Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Age at Probability Defect Repair Rate of
maintenance: of repair cost: repair:
years maintenance area »/m2 m2/week

Protected exposure No defects

Sheltered exposure 10 0˝01 2% 300 8
20 0˝02 5% 600 4
30 0˝04 10% 1200 2
Severe exposure 10 0˝04 10% 1200 2
20 0˝30 20% 1200 2
30 0˝70 50% 1200 2

Table 2. Defect areas, repair costs and rates of repair for reinforced concrete bridge elements subjected to sheltered and severe
exposure conditions3

Analysing information held on the National Structures Data- large amounts of data, which may not be readily available. A
base (NATS) has yielded the data in Table 2, for example, taken simpler option, certainly for bridges on trunk roads and
from BD36.3 This applies to unprotected reinforced concrete motorways, would be to use the Department of Transport
elements and suggests that the probability and extent of repairs program QUADRO (QUeues And Delays at ROadworks)19 or its
is strongly influenced by exposure condition and age of the simplified tabular output reported in the Trunk Road Main-
structure when maintenance is undertaken. An unprotected tenance Manual20 to make this evaluation. QUADRO assumes
bridge soffit subject to light vehicle spray (i.e. sheltered that traffic delay costs depend mainly on
exposure), for instance, could be expected to have a probability
of repair of 0·02 of 5% of the total surface area of the element . traffic flow rates (termed Maintenance Season Average Daily
after 20 years service life. In other words, two in every 100 Traffic) (vehicles per day)
bridges in sheltered exposures could require repair to approxi- . percentage of heavy goods vehicles
mately 5% of the deck soffit after about 20 years. The values in . type of road and number of lanes/carriageways closed
the table further indicate that delaying the time to repair not . length (km) and duration (days) of closure
only increases the area of defective concrete but also the . the use of contraflows and/or narrow lanes.
severity of deterioration as reflected by the increase in the cost
of treatment per square metre of concrete surface and a Information on the first two factors will be available at the
reduction in the rate of repair. design stage and could be made available to contractors as a
part of the contract documents. The three remaining factors will
Repair/maintenance work to some elements of bridge structures be estimated by the contractor based on the method of working
may not necessitate traffic restrictions and hence traffic delay and the extent/severity/location etc. of the work required. Both
costs will be zero. Sometimes traffic delay costs can be will need to be justified based on the best information and
minimised by carrying out work such as joint replacement, experience available at the time of bidding.
parapet renewal and repainting of steelwork at night when
traffic volumes are low, although these savings must be The cost of traffic delays resulting from maintenance work
evaluated in comparison with the engineering costs that are carried out in the future needs to take account of the growth in
generally higher for night work. The 2002 draft of BD36 traffic volumes that has occurred in the past and is likely to
recommends for night work that traffic delay costs should be continue. This can be done provided the current flow rate, Fo,
reduced by 75% and maintenance costs increased by 50%. and the traffic growth rate are known, using the following
When maintenance work does involve interference with the expression that assumes a compound growth model:
traffic, traffic management and user delay costs will be
incurred. The traffic management costs are based principally on Traffic flow rate in year n ¼ ð1 þ growth rateÞn Fo
the length and duration of the closure period. They represent
actual costs and it seems reasonable therefore that they are The growth rate in the expression is expressed as a decimal. For
used when calculating whole life costs. Traffic delay costs, on example, a 2% per annum growth rate is expressed as 0·02.
the other hand, are not reflected in the managing agents’ Note that linear growth models can also be used. It is important
maintenance budgets and could therefore justifiably be ignored not to ignore the effects of traffic growth because the delay cost
from budgetary considerations although it would still be is particularly sensitive to traffic flow rate.21
appropriate to take account of the level of traffic disruption by
some other means. For the purposes of this discussion, namely 2.2.3. Life of maintenance treatments. Table 3 lists some of the
an appraisal of durability options for road bridges, it would more common maintenance options for concrete bridges. Most
seem appropriate that traffic delay costs are taken into account. have only been developed during the last decade and hence
Programs such as CONTRAM (Continuous Traffic Assignment have a very limited track record. Current estimates of their life
Model)17 and SATURN (Simulation and Assignment of Traffic are uncertain and in some cases are based on the results of
to Urban Road Networks)18 could be used to calculate traffic laboratory trials using conditions that accelerate the rate of
delay costs, particularly on bridges located in urban areas. deterioration. More accurate and reliable estimates of life
However these programs are rather sophisticated, requiring should become available in the near future with implementa-

Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie 13

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Desalination treatments stop corrosion by causing the chloride
Repair option
ions to migrate away from the reinforcing steel resulting in the
Silane complete removal of some of them from the structure. After the
Paint treatment is finished the chloride ions will diffuse back towards
Inhibitors the reinforcement and cause corrosion to start again albeit at a
Cathodic protection
lower rate. It seems unlikely that a desalination treatment will
Desalination
Re-alkalisation prevent corrosion for more than 15 years.
Concrete repairs
Enclosures for catching debris Re-alkalisation restores alkalinity to carbonated structures.
Strengthening using fibre composite materials
Hydroxyl ions are formed at the surface of the reinforcing steel
and migrate away from the steel while sodium ions migrate
Table 3. Repair options for concrete bridges22 from the concrete surface towards the steel. After the treatment
further carbonation will occur but as this is a slow process it is
likely that corrosion will be prevented for about 25 years.
tion of the new European standards for the repair and
protection of concrete—pr EN 150423—which covers perform- If care is taken to remove incipient anodes and to achieve a
ance requirements for all repair materials and remedial systems, good bond to the parent concrete, conventional concrete repairs
backed by test methods for determining these in practice as should have a life of about 25 years. Otherwise the life can be
well as output from a recently commissioned European less than 5 years. The main problem with concrete repairs
project—CON REP NET24—whose aim is ‘to encourage the more relates to the fact that at any one time only a relatively small
cost-effective application of resources to the task of extending part of the structure needs concrete repair. Even when concrete
the useful life of existing structures’. In the mean time it would repairs are satisfactorily carried out other parts of the structure
be prudent to assume reasonably modest values for main- may need repair within a few years resulting in short return
tenance life as discussed below. times for maintenance work. This is evidently undesirable
especially when the work results in traffic delays.
Silane is a preventative maintenance treatment for concrete
surfaces that creates a hydrophobic layer which reduces the
Fibre composite materials in the form of plates, sheets and
ingress of water and dissolved chloride ions while allowing
shells can be bonded with epoxy resins to the surface of
water vapour to escape from the concrete. The hydrophobic
existing concrete members such as beams, slabs and columns in
species is chemically bound to the cement matrix and there is
order to restore or increase, singly or in combination, their
no obvious degradation mechanism unless the degree of
strength in bending, shear, direct tension or compression. The
penetration of silane into the concrete is less than 1 mm when
design life of fibre composite strengthening systems is
erosion of the concrete and ultraviolet radiation may lead to
dependent upon the life of the adhesive and there is evidence
degradation. Evidence from long-term trials indicates that
from other applications that such systems should have a design
silane treatments have a life of at least 12 years.25
life of about 30 years.26

Paint systems for concrete such as anti-carbonation paints

generally have a life of 10–15 years although they will 2.2.4. Time value of money. As pointed out earlier, expenditure
continue to provide some protection after degradation has on construction and maintenance will occur at different stages
commenced. The life of paint systems is sensitive to the during the life of the structure, which means that cost estimates
should take account of the time value of money. Normally, this
conditions of the substrate prior to coating and the micro-
is achieved using the standard formula27
climate the painted concrete experiences.

The efficiency of migrating inhibitors as a preventative main- NPV ¼ Co =ð1 þ iÞn

tenance treatment for concrete structures has yet to be reliably
demonstrated. Protection against corrosion is only possible if where NPV is the net present value of maintenance work
the inhibitor penetrates through the concrete cover zone and carried out in year n; Co is the maintenance cost in year, t ¼ 0;
reaches the reinforcing steel. This only occurs if the cover depth and i is the discount rate, taken to be 6% for highway
is unusually low or the concrete is abnormally porous. structures.

There are numerous methods for applying cathodic protection The value chosen for the discount rate often results in
to concrete structures. Three commonly used anodes are: controversy.28,29 The value chosen is usually designed to
graphite paint systems (life about 10 years); activated titanium produce an economic return in a reasonable length of time and
mesh (life about 30 years); and embedded anodes (life about 30 to take account of the risk that the structure could become
years) redundant during this period.30 The discount rate is therefore
usually somewhat higher than the interest rate for deposits.
The effectiveness of these systems will be reduced if the Discount rates vary according to the type of infrastructure and
reinforcement network is not electrically continuous or the from time to time in the UK. For publicly owned infrastructure
concrete surface is delaminated. The graphite paint systems are the value is set by the Government Treasury Department. The
generally much cheaper and although their life is short, a method for arriving at a value for discount rate is not
degree of cathodic protection remains even when the paint has transparent. The chosen value is influenced by a wide range of
significantly degraded. factors: political, social and economic.

14 Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 In particular the expected rate of growth of the economy, the
bank interest rate and the value of a particular type of Procedure for WLCA
investment all influence the decision. In developing countries The purpose of the economic appraisal in this example is
the discount rate is usually about 15% whereas for highway to compare the whole life costs of two design options for
infrastructure in the UK the value is currently 6%. In improving the durability of a concrete motorway bridge.
developing countries the rate of growth and interest rates are The basic information required is as follows:
much higher than in the UK. Furthermore the life expectancy
of bridges is only about 50 years in developing countries OPTION A OPTION B
compared with 120 years in the UK because the quality of the Construction cost, Ci £500 000 £600 000
construction is not so good, bridges are subject to more MFL 15 years 45 years
extreme environments, and are more likely to become obso- Current maintenance cost, Co £300 000 £300 000
lete. Life of maintenance treatment 30 years 30 years
Required life of bridge 75 years 75 years
Current traffic flow rate, Fo 80 000 vpd 80 000 vpd
The economic return period associated with these discount rates Discount rate, i 6% 6%
is typically 30–40 years for developed economies and about
10–20 years for developing economies, reflecting their different The following information relating to traffic disruption is
growth rates. The effect of the discount rate is that maintenance the same for both options
costs incurred after the end of the return period are so heavily
discounted that they can often be small enough to be neglected . the road associated with the bridge maintenance is a
in the whole life cost calculations although this assumption dual three-lane motorway
may not be valid for very busy roads where the delay cost can . two primary lanes, three secondary lanes unaffected
be many times the engineering costs. There is an argument that, namely one out of six lanes closed, contraflow not in
since the design life for a bridge is typically about 100 years, operation
the return period should be about the same as the design life. . the length of the closure is 1 km
This would have the effect of reducing the discount rate to . 20% of the traffic using the road consists of heavy
about 2·5% although it should be noted that the risk of goods vehicles (HGV)
redundancy over a hundred years would be significantly . the delay costs are calculated from Table 17 of QUADRO
greater. This approach would result in a discount rate which . traffic growth rate is 2% per annum
reflects the costs of historic maintenance strategies more than . duration of traffic restrictions is 15 days
the investment climate. . maximum flow rate for a dual three-lane motorway is
140 000 vehicles per day (vpd).

A discount rate of 2·5% would be consistent with a design life The last point means that the maximum capacity is the
of about 100 years; it would also result in a manageable highest flow rate that should be used for calculating delay
replacement rate of 1% of the stock per year on average. costs.
For shorter design lives and their associated higher discount
rate the replacement rate could be difficult for the industry The main difference between Option A and Option B is
to satisfy. In general a sustainable structures management that the bridge using Option A would need two main-
policy would try to maximise their serviceable life because re- tenance treatments after 15 and 45 years (see Fig. 2)
cycling of bridge components and materials is not very whereas the bridge using Option B would need only one
effective. The use of a low discount rate and a high design maintenance treatment after 45 years (see Fig. 3). This is
life would therefore be consistent with such a sustainability because the MFL for Option B is 45 years whereas for
policy. Option A it is only 15 years.

OPTION A
In practice designers will not be given a choice regarding the Initial cost of construction Ci ¼ £500 000
value of discount rate to use; they will have to use the current
prescribed value. Maintenance cost
Discounted cost of maintenance after 15 years
¼ Co/(1 þ i)n ¼ 300 000/(1 þ 006)15 ¼ £125 000
The whole life cost value calculated by the NPV formula stated
above is clearly sensitive to the value of the discount rate
although it is even more sensitive to the age at which
maintenance is carried out because this appears as a power in
the formula. In general the whole life cost technique is used to
appraise the economics of alternative durability and main-
tenance options. The same discount rate is used for all the
options although the age at which maintenance is required will
vary from option to option, hence the value of the discount rate
will not be as critical as might have been expected. Never-
theless high discount rates will favour low initial cost, low life
options whereas low discount rates will tend to favour high Fig. 2. Whole life cost model for Option A
initial cost, high life options.

Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie 15

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 The use of this formula with a discount rate of 6% per annum is
illustrated in the following example, which outlines a straight-
forward procedure for calculating whole life costs.

3. AN APPROACH TO IMPLEMENTATION
It should be possible to use the above procedure to minimise
the whole life costs of structures provided the initial cost of
construction of critical elements/components of a structure can
be determined. In the case of a two-span, simply supported
Fig. 3. Whole life cost model for Option B bridge, for example, critical elements would include

. abutment
Discounted cost of maintenance after 45 years . pier
¼ Co/(1 þ i)n ¼ 300 000/(1 þ 0·06)45 ¼ £22 000 . deck.

Traffic delay costs The cost of construction of individual elements can be easily
Traffic flow rate after 15 years ¼ (1 þ 0·02)nFo estimated if the items in Bills of Quantities are listed by element
¼ (1 þ 0·02)15  80 000 ¼ 107 700 vpd type rather than type of work. In addition to returning priced
Traffic delay costs ¼ £105 000/day bills, the contractor would be encouraged to vary the design of
Discounted traffic delay costs after 15 years elements/components in order to reduce whole life costs. Bills
¼ 15  £105 000/(1 þ 0·06)15 ¼ £657 000 of Quantities would also be required for all proposed alter-
Traffic flow rate after 45 years natives. In this example, for both design Options A and B,
¼ (1 + 0·02)nFo ¼ (1 þ 0·02)45  80 000 ¼ 195 000 vpd future maintenance work on particular elements or components
Traffic delay costs/day of the structure would have to be identified and costed in order
¼ £176 000/day (for the maximum capacity of to estimate the whole life costs of the designs. The information
140 000 vpd) is best presented in tabular form as shown (Haneef N, Private
communication, 2002). Table 4, for example, summarises the
Discounted traffic delay costs after 45 years year(s) in which the structure would have to be maintained, the
¼ 15  £176 000/(1 þ 0·06)45 ¼ £192 000 recommended treatment type, quantity and duration of work
and the costs involved. Table 5 summarises the whole life costs
Total cost of option A
for the two schemes.
¼ £500 000 þ £125 000 þ £22 000 þ £657 000
þ £192 000
This approach only considers maintenance arising from
¼ £1 496 000
deterioration of a structure. Structures can also need improve-
OPTION B ments during their service life to improve their level of service
Construction cost thereby increasing the age at which they eventually become
Ci ¼ £600 000 obsolete. Examples of improvements are

Maintenance cost . widening to increase capacity

Discounted cost of maintenance after 45 years . strengthening to increase the load that can be carried
¼ Co/(1 þ i)n ¼ 300 000/(1 þ 0·06)45 ¼ £22 000 . stronger parapets to increase safety
. better waterproofing membranes and joints to reduce
Traffic delay costs deterioration.
Traffic flow rate after 45 years
¼ (1 þ 0·02)nFo ¼ (1 þ 0·02)45  80 000 ¼ 195 000 vpd This paper does not consider obsolescence although this would
Traffic delay costs/day ¼ £176 000/day (for the maximum be a beneficial subject area for future research.
capacity of 140 000 vpd)
Discounted traffic delay costs after 45 years Using this approach, tenders could be awarded on a combina-
¼ 15  £176 000/(1 þ 006)45 ¼ £192 000 tion of initial cost and lifetime cost of the structure depending
upon the client’s financial requirements. Presenting the infor-
Total cost of option B
mation in this way would allow the key assumptions to be
¼ £600 000 þ £22 000 þ £192 000 ¼ £814 000
compared between designs and allow initial and whole life
Therefore Option B has a higher initial construction cost costs to be compared.
but a lower whole life cost than Option A. The additional
construction cost has been more than counterbalanced by Apart from achieving the major goal of reduced whole life
reduced maintenance costs for Option B. Hence for this costs, the introduction of such a procedure would offer a
example there would be an economic justification for number of other benefits, including the following.
adopting design Option B. It is worth noting that even if
traffic delays are not taken into account, the whole life . provide a mechanism for introducing new design concepts,
cost of Option B (¼ £622 000) is still cheaper than Option new materials and new construction systems
A (¼ £647 000). . encourage all those involved in the construction industry to
contribute ideas and expertise in design and construction

16 Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Yeara Maintenance Unitc Quantityd Duratione Discount Engineeering Traffic Discounted
optionb factorf costg delay costsi
costsh

Option A
15 15 days 0˝42 »300 000 »105 000/day »782 000
45 15 days 0˝07 »300 000 »176 000/day »214 000
Total: »996 000
Option B
45 15 days 0˝07 »300 000 »176 000/day »214 000
Total: »214 000
a
Year in which maintenance work is required.
b
Concrete repairs, silane replacement, joint renewal, etc.
c
No, m, m2, etc.
d
Quantity of work.
e
Duration of traffic restrictions.
f
Discount factor ¼ 1=ð1 þ iÞn .
g
Includes access and traffic management cost.
h
From QUADRO tables and traffic growth rate.
i
Discounted maintenance and traffic delay costs.

Table 4. Maintenance costs

Initial construction Discounted Discounted traffic Whole life costs

cost maintenance cost delay cost

Option A »500 000 »147 000 »849 000 »1 496 000

Option B »600 000 » 22 000 »192 000 »814 000

Table 5. Whole life costs

. encourage/reward companies that are investing in research contractors for pricing. However, the contractor is encouraged
and development. to amend elements or components of the design with the aim of
minimising whole life costs. Many of the variables needed to
4. HOW IT AVOIDS ABUSE carry out whole life cost analysis are not available and must be
The proposed system of inviting tenders is clearly more estimated. This opens up the possibility of abuse; this should
complex than the existing one and therefore provides an however be capable of detection as a result of a combination of
enhanced opportunity for abuse. This may include providing engineering experience of maintenance contracts and analysis
erroneous estimates of maintenance-free life and the cost and of returned tenders.
life of maintenance treatments. For these variables, which are
the most sensitive, the contractor would be expected to justify REFERENCES
the values assumed. On many schemes traffic management and 1. FERRY D. J. O. and FLANAGAN R. Life Cycle Costing. CIRIA,
traffic delay costs may well represent the major constituents of London, CIRIA Report No. 122, 1991.
the maintenance costs and it is vital therefore that contractors 2. DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT. Evaluation of Maintenance
propose realistic methods of working. Even if traffic delay costs Costs in Comparing Alternative Designs for Highway
are not taken into account, contractors need to propose realistic Structures. The Highways Agency, London, 1992, Depart-
methods of working, as their decision will affect traffic mental Advice Note BA 28/92, Departmental Standard BD
management costs. As with any new method of assessment 36/92.
there are bound to be unforeseen difficulties but past 3. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Evaluation of Maintenance Costs in
experience of similar works and careful analysis of returned Comparing Alternative Designs and Maintenance Schemes
tenders using techniques such as sensitivity analysis should for Highway Structures (Draft). The Highways Agency,
help with identification of misleading data. The engineer still London, 2002, Advice Note BA 28/XX, Departmental
retains the option of awarding a contract on the basis of initial Standard BD 36/XX.
construction cost or, perhaps, giving the whole life cost 4. ARDITI D. and MESSIHA H. M. Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA)
analysis a lower weighting. in municipal organisations. Journal of Infrastructure
Engineering, 1999, 5, No. 1, 1–10.
5. CONCLUSION 5. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Waterproofing and Surfacing of Concrete
This paper has described a straightforward model that could be Bridge Decks. The Highways Agency, London, 1999,
used to evaluate tenders in terms of whole life costs rather than Advice Note BA47/99, Departmental Standard BD47/99.
initial construction costs. It involves preparing Bills of 6. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Impregnation of Concrete Highway
Quantities in the conventional way, which are forwarded to Structures. The Highways Agency, London, 1990, Advice

Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie 17

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.
 Note BA 33/90. Criteria and Materials for the Impregnation 21. BURLEY E. and RIGDEN S. R. The use of life cycle costing in
of Concrete Highway Structures. Departmental Standard assessing alternative bridge design. Proceedings of the
BD 43/90. Institution of Civil Engineers Municipal Engineering, 1997,
7. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Design for Durability. The Highways 121, March, 22–27.
Agency, London, 2001, Advice Note BA 57/01, Depart- 22. VASSIE P. R. and ARYA C. Selecting appropriate remedial
mental Standard BD 57/01. measures for corroding concrete structures. Proceedings of
8. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Use of Stainless Steel Reinforcement the Fourth International Conference on Bridge Manage-
in Highway Structures. The Highways Agency, London, ment, Surrey, 2000, pp 524–535.
2002, Advice Note BA 84/02, Departmental Standard BD 23. MAYS G. and DAVIES H. Progress towards European
84/02. standards for concrete repair products. Concrete, 2003, 37,
9. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Enclosure of Bridges. The Highways No. 1, 45–47.
Agency, London, 1996, Advice Note BA 67/96, Depart- 24. MATTHEWS S., HOLTON I., MORLIDGE J. and POOL R. CON REP
mental Standard BD 67/96. NET a thematic network on performance-based rehabilita-
10. TUUTTI K. Corrosion of Steel in Concrete. The Swedish tion of reinforced concrete structures. Concrete, 2003, 37,
Cement and Concrete Association, Stockholm, Sweden. No. 8, 58–59.
Report Fo 4.82. 25. VASSIE P. R. and CALDER A. Reducing chloride ingress to
11. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Whole Life Assessment of Highway concrete bridges by impregnants in controlling concrete
Bridges and Structures. The Highways Agency, London, degradation. Proceedings of the International Conference on
2000, Advice Note BA 81 (Draft). Challenges of Concrete Construction. Dundee, 1999, pp.
12. ROBERTS M. B., ATKINS C., HOGG V. and MIDDLETON C. A 133–148.
proposed empirical corrosion model for reinforced con- 26. CONCRETE SOCIETY. Design Guidance for Strengthening Con-
crete. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: crete Structures using Fibre Composite Materials, Technical
Structures and Buildings, 2000, 140, No. 1, 1–11. Report No. 55. The Concrete Society, Crowthorne, 2000
13. SARJA A and VESIKAR, E. (eds) Durability Design of Concrete 27. SOMERVILLE G. The impact of whole life costing on the
Structures. E&FN Spon, London, 1996, RILEM Report 14. durability design of concrete bridges. Proceedings of the
14. BAMFORTH P.B. Guidance on the Selection of Measures for Institution of Civil Engineers Transport, 1998, 129, August,
Enhancing Reinforced Concrete Durability. Taywood Engi- 134-141.
neering Report No. 1304/98/10439, 1998, unpublished. 28. TILLY G. Financial implications of whole life costing.
15. CRANK J. The Mathematics of Diffusion. Second edition. Proceedings of a One Day Seminar on Whole Life Costing
Oxford at the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1975. Concrete Bridges, Concrete Bridge Development Group,
16. ANDRADE C and ALONSO C. Corrosion rate monitoring in the 1995, pp. 1–14.
laboratory and on site. Construction and Building Materi- 29. RIGDEN S. R., BURLEY E. and TAJALLI A. The assessment of
als, 1996, 10, No. 5, 315–328. future repair and maintenance costs of bridges in net
17. http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/software/saturn/ present value terms. Proceedings of a One Day Seminar on
18. http://www.contram.com/ Whole Life Costing Concrete Bridges, Concrete Bridge
19. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Development Group, 1995, pp. 15–26.
Vol. 14, QUADRO 3 Manual, The Stationery Office, 30. SPACKMAN M. Discount Rates and Rates of Return in the
Norwich, 2002. Public Sector. HM Treasury, London, 1991. Government
20. HIGHWAYS AGENCY. Annex 5.5.2 QUADRO reference tables. Economic Service Working Paper No. 113.
Trunk Road Maintenance Manual, Vol. 1. The Stationery
Office, Norwich, 1999.

Please email, fax or post your discussion contributions to the secretary by 1 September 2004: email: [email protected];
fax: +44 (0)20 7665 2294; or post to Daniela Wong, Journals Department, Institution of Civil Engineers, 1^7 Great George Street,
London SW1P 3AA.

18 Bridge Engineering 156 Issue BE1 Whole life cost analysis in tender evaluation Arya
Vassie

Downloaded by [ Distributed Tech Svcs-Sci] on [19/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved.