Management of Bridges Under Aging Mechanisms and Extreme Events: Risk-Based Approach

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Current bridge management systems predict the condition state of bridge elements primarily on the basis of the extent of continuous structural deterioration. Although the existing systems deliver a range of capabilities for the management of bridges under normal operational conditions, these systems do not take into account the consequences of sudden extreme events in a systematic way. Considering the uncertainties involved in natural and manufactured hazards in addition to the ones associated with environmental exposure conditions, there is a critical need to develop risk-based approaches that not only take into account the site-specific aging mechanisms and extreme events at the same time but also accommodate the spatial and temporal randomness originated from them. This study introduced a risk-based, life-cycle analysis framework to be implemented in the current bridge management systems used by the transportation agencies. A set of representative bridges exposed to environmental stressors and seismic hazards was investigated to demonstrate the capabilities of this framework. The condition states of the bridges were predicted in accordance with the Markovian transition matrices that were generated for both aging mechanisms and seismic events. The outcome of this study highlights how the developed framework can contribute to improve the life-cycle performance and cost predictions, especially when the adverse effects of extreme events cannot be neglected in the management of bridges.