Abstract
The development of a generalised framework for assessing bridge life-cycle performance and cost, with emphasis on analysis, prediction, optimisation and decision-making under uncertainty, is briefly addressed. The central issue underlying the importance of the life-cycle approach to bridge engineering is the need for a rational basis for making informed decisions regarding design, construction, inspection, monitoring, maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, replacement and management of bridges under uncertainty which is carried out by using multi-objective optimisation procedures that balance conflicting criteria such as performance and cost. A number of significant developments are summarised, including time-variant reliability, risk, resilience, and sustainability of bridges, bridge transportation networks and interdependent infrastructure systems. Furthermore, the effects of climate change on the probabilistic life-cycle performance assessment of highway bridges are addressed. Moreover, integration of SHM and updating in bridge management and probabilistic life-cycle optimisation considering multi-attribute utility and risk attitudes are presented.
Acknowledgements
National Science Foundation, Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance, U.S. Federal Highway Administration, and U.S. Office of Naval Research are gratefully acknowledged. The opinions and conclusions presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring organizations.
Notes
Based on the T.Y. Lin plenary lecture and the associated paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management (IABMAS2016), Iguassu Falls, Paraná, Brazil, 26–30 June, 2016.