“…There is a large interest from scientists and practitioners in the investigation and development of monitoring systems and approaches for the efficient incorporation of monitored information in the performance assessment of structures associated with the identification of defects and degradation processes (Bergmeister et al 2010, Doebling et al 1996, Messervey and Frangopol 2009, Strauss et al 2009a, Frangopol 2011, Geier 2010, Inaudi 2010, Wenzel and Egerer 2010, Zilch et al 2009. Promising statistical and analytical models (Messervey et al 2010, Strauss et al 2008a, Frangopol 2011) have been already developed for the optimization of monitoring periods (Kim and Frangopol 2010, Strauss et al 2008b, Kim and Frangopol 2011a, Frangopol 2011 and the incorporation of monitoring information in the performance assessment and the lifetime prediction of structures (Messervey et al 2009, Frangopol 2011, Dorvash et al 2010.…”