The world’s largest bridge construction projects are becoming less about opening new routes and more about keeping existing ones fit for purpose.
The clearest evidence sits in the US, where the $17.7bn Interstate 5 Bridge Replacement is the highest-value scheme in GlobalData’s dataset and the $7bn I-5 Boone Bridge Replacement adds another large renewal programme at planning stage
The figures point to a market in which replacement work can command the same financial scale as new strategic links. Thailand’s proposed $17.35bn Land Bridge and Indonesia’s $11bn Malacca Strait Bridge remain in pre-planning, while the two US bridge replacements have progressed to planning. Front-page value still attracts attention, but project stage offers a better guide to where advisory, engineering and supply-chain demand may emerge first.
Renewal projects also place different demands on delivery teams. Work on an established corridor is likely to involve more interfaces with operating infrastructure than a scheme built on a new alignment. The concentration of capital in replacement schemes suggests that experience in phased delivery and work around existing assets will carry commercial weight.