Summary
ADVANCED METHODS FOR RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING ROAD BRIDGES
Simplified conservative procedures for the reliability assessment of existing
bridges based on the methods applied for the design of new structures may lead
to expensive and time-consuming repairs of bridges. Therefore, the project is
focused on the development of advanced methods for the reliability
assessment of existing road bridges based on the principles of
new European standards EN Eurocodes and international documents ISO. Results of
previous research projects supported by the Ministry of Transportation of the
Czech Republic (MD CR) and also other available sources are taken into account.
The partial safety factors, given in EN
Eurocodes for structural design by conservative values, will be modified for
the conditions of existing bridge structures, using probabilistic methods.
Advanced procedures for the assessment of characteristic and design
values of basic variables on the basis of test
results will be proposed. Application rules for specification of
target reliability levels will be developed
considering required remaining working life, relative costs of repair and
expected costs due to potential structural failure. In addition, developed
probabilistic optimization methods will facilitate decision-making concerning
bridge repairs, given a limited budget.
Proposed procedures will be verified on a selected bridge, and also on a
case study of decision-making aimed at specification of priorities of repairs
for a set of existing bridges. New prescriptive Technical Conditions of MD CR
for the reliability assessment of existing bridges and supplementary provisions
to ČSN 73 6222 will be proposed to facilitate implementation of the new
methodology in practice. The seminar for civil engineers and other undertakers
involved in bridge construction will be organized (including a handbook
available on project web sites). The project results will be published in
professional and scientific journals and conferences.
