A simplified management procedure for bridge network maintenance

Structural problems due to corrosion, ageing, durability, aggressive environments, materials defects, lack of ductility and unforeseen behaviour under seismic loads may significantly compromise the resistance and safety of bridges. Scheduled maintenance of bridges becomes important to ensure complete serviceability of the road network. Among existing bridge management systems (BMSs), this work is a contribution to the evaluation criteria of bridge condition by means of visual inspection, prediction of future structural condition and planning of maintenance intervention. After a brief review of some existing BMSs, a simple new procedure for evaluation of bridge condition by means of visual inspection, aimed at general planning of maintenance in a BMS framework, is presented in this paper. This procedure is applied to stock, including about 200 bridges and viaducts, of the Veneto region road network in the north-eastern part of Italy, and is then discussed.