Retrofit decision model for existing old structures

Abstract

Bridges are long term structures that have to withstand serious weather conditions and heavy loads. Any failure in these types of structures may lead to catastrophic results such as death, high financial loss.... These facts make such structures very important which make them require frequent maintenance, because otherwise they will only exist physically but cannot function safely. Engineers around the world try hard to find a way around the inefficiency of maintenance interventions. These maintenance plans usually lack consistency and are time consuming and very costly. This project aims at establishing a deterioration curve that will give a scientific background on when and how to maintain these types of structures based on its life cycle. Such procedure does not require a lot of data and therefore is not time consuming, hence it can be very useful in countries with limited inspection resources such as Lebanon.