Reliability assessment of deteriorating reinforced concrete bridges subjected to earthquake and foundation scour

This study assesses the structural reliability of a deteriorating reinforced concrete bridge subjected earthquake and foundation scour during its service life. This study relies on probabilistic models of natural hazards and structural deterioration based on in-service inspection and utilizes methods of time-dependent reliability assessment. The results of the study reveal the potential influences of competing hazards on structural response of bridges over their service lives. The thesis is structured in five chapters: (1) Introduction, including motivation and objectives of the study; (2) Literature review, addressing the background of natural hazards modelling and time-dependent reliability assessment; (3) Methods for modelling natural hazards and structural deterioration of bridges probabilistically; (4) Performance assessment of deteriorating bridges under competing hazards, providing numerical measures of structural reliability for a three-span reinforced concrete bridge based on a finite element model; (5) Conclusion and recommendations, summarizing the main research findings and discussing a possible direction for further studies