Risk-Based Strategies for Bridge Maintenance

Effective maintenance of bridge structures comprises a broad spectrum of plans for repairs and services implemented to enable bridges to perform their intended function. These include in-depth inspection, fatigue analysis, design of mitigation measures and construction to avert component deterioration. Several incidents of in-service and under construction bridge failures have recently taken place. These dramatic failures emphasize the importance of risk-based inspections and analysis of real-life data to evaluate reliability of bridges. To effectuate benefits of reliability analysis in bridge maintenance, work on theoretical reliability must be equipped with practical analytical tools. Such an approach must underscore risk elements and identify processes to manage risk and avoid unexpected outcomes of failures and service disruption of bridges.
The devastating earthquakes of February 6, 2023, in the southern region of Turkey near the northern border of Syria, which claimed tens of thousands of lives, caused enormous structural damage and staggering economic losses. These seismic events brought to focus on the vitality of instilling infrastructure routes that must accommodate emergency management plans to integrate the influx of medical and rescue response teams.