Evidencing the Need for Consistency in Long Term Investment to Secure the Safety of Road Bridges

Abstract

Due to limited budgets, bridge managers need to be aware of the different factors affecting the maintenance of their bridge stock. Since traffic levels are intensifying along with the likelihood of extreme events (as a result of climate change), the safety and reliability of road networks are at risk. This places immediate emphasis on the need for strategic investment policies to maintain and improve the network. Organisations rely heavily on the data collected at the time of inspection in order to prioritise maintenance tasks, however a budget that can address all substandard bridges is no longer viable due to restricted investment and effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, a method or tool for making informed choices is needed to show the effects of particular decisions. This paper will review current literature on how maintenance is prioritised both within the research community and in practice. A focus will then be placed on a toolkit designed to assist with the management of structures, with a look at how different budgets affects both the short-term and long-term condition of the bridges and how inspector bias affects the prioritisation results.