IN Brief:
- Re-Bridge creates a shared catalogue for reusable bridge structures and steel components.
- The platform is designed to reduce embodied carbon, material costs, and infrastructure waste.
- Its launch moves circular bridge design from research into a live industry tool.
Expedition Engineering and Format Engineers have launched Re-Bridge, a digital platform designed to accelerate the direct reuse of structural steel in bridge construction.
The platform connects asset owners, engineers, designers, local authorities, and industry partners through a shared space for cataloguing, identifying, and reusing bridges and bridge components. It is designed to help existing spans and steel elements find new applications before they are scrapped, recycled, or left unused.
Re-Bridge is supported by the Useful Simple Trust and the Institution of Civil Engineers. It follows earlier work on the reuse of structural steel in bridges, which identified technical, regulatory, commercial, and procurement barriers that have limited circular approaches in infrastructure.
The platform supports direct reuse of components, reduces embodied carbon, lowers project and material costs, extends material life cycles, and retains the value of existing infrastructure assets. It is now live and open to contributions from across the sector.
Hazel Needham, associate structural engineer at Expedition and co-author of Steel Reuse in Bridges, said: “Re-Bridge is about moving from theory to implementation. With the right tools and collaboration, existing spans can become valuable assets for new projects.”
Camille Chevrier, associate engineer at Format, said: “This catalogue is the first step towards bridge stock-led-design. It will change the question from ‘what can we build?’ to ‘what do we already have?’. We’re redefining waste as a resource, one span at a time.”
The Re-Bridge team is encouraging asset owners to contribute details of structures and components that are unused, due to be replaced, or scheduled for upgrade with no identified future use. The aim is to create a practical catalogue that can support design decisions, feasibility work, and early engagement between those holding potential donor assets and those seeking low-carbon materials for new schemes.
Steel reuse in bridge construction carries clear technical challenges. Components must be assessed for geometry, condition, fatigue life, structural integrity, residual performance, coatings, documentation, and suitability for the intended loading environment. In many cases, testing, reconditioning, certification, and logistics can be more complex than ordering new material from a standard supply route.
Those challenges explain why reuse has remained difficult to scale, even where the carbon and cost case is attractive. Conventional procurement tends to start with a design and then source material to match it. A stock-led reuse model reverses part of that process, requiring engineers and clients to understand what assets are available before locking down structural form, span, connection details, and programme assumptions.
A shared catalogue cannot remove every technical or liability concern, but it can make reusable material visible earlier and give designers a basis for considering direct reuse before demolition or replacement decisions are finalised. That early visibility is critical, because once a bridge is dismantled without a reuse plan, much of the higher-value opportunity can be lost.
Infrastructure clients are under increasing pressure to reduce embodied carbon without compromising safety, programme, or asset performance. Reusing entire spans or structural components will not be suitable for every project, but the approach is likely to gain traction where clients control multiple assets, where footbridges or lower-fatigue applications are involved, and where early design flexibility is preserved.
