A procedure for bridge visual inspections prioritisation in the context of preliminary risk assessment with limited information
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
Taylor & Francis
Date
2022Referencia bibliográfica
Published version: Andrea Meoni, Enrique García-Macías, Ilaria Venanzi & Filippo Ubertini (2023) A procedure for bridge visual inspections prioritisation in the context of preliminary risk assessment with limited information, Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, DOI: 10.1080/15732479.2023.2210547
Abstract
Visual inspections represent the most resource-expensive operation in bridge management systems (BMSs). Consequently, their planning cannot be limited to the
results of risk assessments, which are often performed under incomplete or uncertain information, but operating costs should also be accounted for. In this light, this
paper presents a new methodology to prioritise visual inspections in BMSs based
on risk condition and operating cost assessment. Framed in a context of limited
information, the methodology exploits an information gain criterion to tackle potential uncertainties in the risk classification, so enabling to optimize the potential
outcomes of the inspection plan. The proposed approach is conceived to be implemented in Geographical Information Systems (GISs) to facilitate the construction
of intuitive risk maps and inspection plans. The effectiveness of the framework is
demonstrated through its application to a simulated bridge stock whose risk condition was evaluated through the new guidelines for bridge risk classification and
management recently adopted in Italy. The presented results highlight the benefits
of simultaneously considering bridge risk conditions and inspection costs in defining the inspection plan, hence the usefulness of information theory to prioritise visual inspections. Limitations and future improvements of the proposed prioritisation
method have also been highlighted and discussed.