Interviews were undertaken with expert bridge designers to reveal their opinions on environmental considerations and the possibility of integrating life-cycle assessment into the bridge design process. Bridge designers were generally found to consider that the need for the bridge, access for future maintenance, use of quality materials, longevity, cost savings and sustainability are matters more important than life-cycle environmental emissions. Moreover, the limited awareness of life-cycle assessments among bridge designers along with a keenness to execute clients’ requirements, mostly on the basis of cost, has further widened the gap. This gap could be overcome by ensuring that detailed environmental matters such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions are considered as design criteria; encouraging designers to highlight emerging environmental matters in the design brief; heightening awareness of life-cycle assessment among designers to increase its potential usage; and factoring life-cycle assessment damage indicators into the bridge design process.

中文翻译：

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生命周期评估桥梁设计和维护中的环境可持续性

与专家桥梁设计师进行了访谈，以揭示他们对环境因素的看法以及将生命周期评估纳入桥梁设计过程的可能性。人们普遍认为，桥梁设计者认为桥梁的需求，将来的维护，使用优质材料，寿命，节省成本和可持续性比生命周期的环境排放更为重要。此外，桥梁设计人员对生命周期评估的意识有限，并且主要是基于成本，渴望执行客户的要求，这进一步拉大了差距。通过确保将详细的环境问题（例如二氧化碳，二氧化氮和温室气体排放）视为设计标准，可以克服这一差距；鼓励设计师在设计简介中强调新出现的环境问题；提高设计师对生命周期评估的认识，以增加其潜在用途；并将生命周期评估损坏指标纳入桥梁设计过程。