BRIME

BRIdge Management in Europe

BACKGROUND

Whilst design is being harmonised through Eurocodes the same is not true for management of existing structures. However bridge management systems are being developed in several European countries which cover to various degrees the topics being investigated in this project.

A considerable amount of the information required is already available through various programmes of research which have been carried out in Europe and elsewhere. Numerous experimental programmes have been carried out to investigate the susceptibility of bridges to deterioration, the parameters which affect the onset and rate of deterioration and the consequent degradation of structural performance. In addition, many inspection and assessment reports and case studies exist in published and unpublished papers.

However further information is required on techniques for quantifying the condition of a structure, assessing its load carrying capacity taking into account the effects of deterioration, methods for determining the rate of deterioration and development of strategies for, and optimising expenditure on, bridge maintenance.

Most countries use qualitative systems for determining the condition of a structure based on visual inspection and the results of simple tests. This approach has many short comings and there is a need for more quantitative methods which take account of the type of damage and its effect on the durability and strength of the material.

Techniques for assessing the load carrying capacity of existing bridges vary between countries. At present most use a deterministic procedure and it is known that some aspects of the standards used are conservative and some structures possess reserves of strength that are not taken into account in the standards. Risk based procedures which take into account the risk of failure using bridge specific information such as actual traffic density and composition and degree of redundancy as well as the consequences of failure are being developed in some countries.

The bridge management systems currently being used do not yet include reliable techniques for the evaluation of the structural consequences of deterioration. Existing guidelines for the assessment of bridges may not be applicable or efficient in bridges which have been subjected to deterioration. Reliable assessment models would enable the more efficient use of resources in bridge maintenance.

The baseline for this project can be summarised by the following:
a) Information contained in national bridge databases;
b) Information on structural behaviour from published and unpublished reports;
c) National standards and advice notes relating to structural assessment;
d) Existing inspection reports/case studies;
e) Existing bridge management systems.

All of this information will be used as a starting point to produce an effective management system