LoStPReCon · Long-term structural performance of pre-stressed concrete bridges: A risk-based monitoring informed framework for life-cycle asset management

Long-term structural performance of pre-stressed concrete bridges: A risk-based monitoring informed framework for life-cycle asset management

• What is the problem/issue being addressed? A recent re-assessment of the collapse in 1996 of the Koror-Babeldaob Bridge, a pre-stressed concrete bridge built by the cantilever method, concluded that this was due to excessive deflections linked to creep and shrinkage that appeared and grew non-linearly some years after construction. Similar trends have been found for a group of 56 similar bridge spans, raising the question whether such concerns could influence the maintenance and service life of a high number of pre-stressed bridges in Europe and beyond with important socio-economic impact. • Why is it important for society? Long-span bridges are key elements in the European transportation networks underpinning mobility of citizens and goods. In this respect, bridge safety and durability are essential attributes of a well-functioning infrastructure, attracting significant investment from national budgets. Improving our understanding on how bridges behave under increasing loads and possible deterioration will help in spending the maintenance funds effectively, minimising owner and user costs and reducing risks to people. • What are the overall objectives? Although individual material and structural factors have been researched, this problem can only be solved by integrating physical and probabilistic models and benefiting from the increasing use of monitoring data. In this context, the five objectives of the LostPreCon project were set as follows: – Objective 1: Review existing models for shrinkage and creep at specimen level. – Objective 2: Establish robust hybrid FE models for medium/long-term performance predictions. – Objective 3: Develop a novel monitoring approach based on Digital Image Correlation (DIC). – Objective 4: Formulate a time-dependent reliability assessment framework, addressing creep and shrinkage uncertainties. – Objective 5: Produce representative performance-time profiles for pre-stressed bridges based on the proposed framework and models.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union