Data to Risk-Informed Decisions through Bridge Model Updating

Across the country, bridge structures are aging with use commonly extending beyond their original design lives. Decisions to repair, retrofit or rehabilitate these structures will support continued reliability and resilience of these structures. To better understand the states of the bridges at any point in time, there are new technologies to inspect, monitor and assess bridge conditions. To effectively use the results of these inspections and monitoring activities, we need an understanding of the relation between varying inspection parameters and the predicted performance of bridge structures. In this seminar, we will describe methods to use inspection data to update assessment of bridge performance, focusing on corrosion inspection data. Through bridge model updating, we account for the effects of corrosion, including reduction of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement and bond deterioration between the steel and concrete through corrosion-induced cracking in reinforced concrete bridges. Corrosion is measured by percent mass loss. The impact of measured corrosion parameters on performance is assessed with results quantifying the increase in risk or vulnerability of these structures as corrosion levels increase. Comparing results across bridges supports risk-informed decisions in the management of bridges to protect these structures and ensure their reliability and resilience under future loading and hazard scenarios