Developments towards a European Bridge Assessment Code

Abstract

During the last decade, extensive research efforts were expended in Europe to develop new techniques for the assessment, rehabilitation and management of existing bridges. Several European-wide research projects that addressed these topics have been recently completed including: BRIME, COST345, SAMARIS, Sustainable Bridges and ARCHES. These projects led to the development of several guidelines providing state-ofthe-art methods for the safety assessment of existing bridges. However, the implementation of these proposed guidelines might be difficult in many European countries due to the lack of national documents that will legally approve their practical application. Furthermore, the guidelines are presented as state-of-the-art solutions rather than as codes or specifications and thus may be difficult to follow by less experienced engineers. To help in expediting the implementation of the proposed guidelines, this paper proposes the development of a new Eurocode for Bridge Safety Assessment. The key elements of such a code are presented including: 1) the use of probability based assessment, 2) the use of redundancy and robustness criteria, 3) the use of site-specific loads, 4) methods for incorporating diagnostic test data, and 5) methods for incorporating proof load test data.