Socio-Economic Demands and Modifications of Bridges

Bridges provide vital links in the road network. Bridges are one of the network elements that require the most attention because the investment in bridges represents approximately thirty percent of the total investment. Road users, road owners and other interested parties - in the following referred to as society - are currently setting up new socio-economic (S-E) demands on the road network including bridges e.g. demands for increasing passability or a reduction of the impact on the environment. [...]

Management of Post-tensioned Grouted Duct Bridges

Post-tensioned concrete bridges, which were pioneered in France, but soon taken up by the engineers in other advanced countries, have proven to be increasingly popular as an economically competitive and safe form of construction. With the introduction of many innovative techniques within a relatively short period, it was perhaps inevitable that quite a few problems would be encountered subsequently. A number of grouted-duct bridges have collapsed in service and others have shown potentially dangerous [...]

Reliability-Based Assessment of Highway Bridges

Many countries around the world are currently facing increasing demands on their resources for the maintenance of their existing bridges. Many of these bridges were built long ago and are inadequate for modern traffic requirements while others are showing serious deterioration resulting from the application of de-icing salts and from other adverse factors. Faced with limited resources, the authorities are having to prioritise the work. It is now generally accepted that the only rational way to prioritise [...]

Types of structures Selected for new Bridges

New bridges are usually considered as long term investments. Therefore they should be designed to comply not only with the demands on trafficability and durability of today, but also with the future demands. For the road manager the goal should be to find solutions which fulfil present and future demands on trafficability etc. at the lowest socio-economic life cycle costs. An important parameter in this optimization process is the type of structure selected for the new bridges. The selection naturally [...]

Towards an Indicator of the Health Condition of Bridges

The survey was carried out to clarify the present conditions and trends of the management of bridges currently in service by collecting knowledge and information on bridge management in various countries. The results of the survey can then be used to improve inspection and diagnosis techniques. The survey questionnaires were given to various countries, and seventeen countries responded (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Slovakia, [...]