Pathology and assessment of existing bridges

This series of articles aims to improve the reliability and durability of bridges. It is aimed primarily at bridge managers, who are responsible for identifying "sick" structures and taking the necessary safety measures, and then involving the laboratories and design offices responsible for identifying and quantifying the causes of disorders and determining their impact on the capacity of the structures concerned.

It is also aimed at bridge design engineers, to help them avoid a number of "classic" mistakes, and at project control engineers, to help them perform their duties more effectively.

It is also aimed at site management teams responsible for ensuring that bridges are properly executed.

Finally, it is aimed at student engineers and technicians, enabling them to complete their training in an area that is covered by certain specialized courses, but which is not part of the traditional technical teaching units.

This dossier describes the main disorders affecting concrete (reinforced and prestressed concrete) and steel bridges, as well as their causes.

The second part, [C 7 403] , describes disorders of supporting devices, protective elements and equipment.

The third part [C 7 404] describes, with their limits of use, the various testing and measurement techniques, both in the laboratory and in situ, used in the field of bridges but also, with the exception of some of these techniques, in the field of civil engineering and building.

The fourth part [C 7 405] develops a practical and classic methodology for the multi-stage assessment of an existing bridge, which, however, does not make use of the methods for estimating structural reliability which, given their complexity, are still currently reserved for special cases....