A framework for system reliability, updating and residual life assessment of existing concrete bridges subjected to corrosion

作者：Simone Celati · 发表于：Lund University Publications (Lund University) · 年份：2026 · 研究领域：Concrete Corrosion and Durability、Infrastructure Maintenance and Monitoring、Structural Integrity and Reliability Analysis

The growing age of bridge inventories worldwide demands a systematic evaluation of their safety and estimation of their remaining service life. At the same time, the pursuit of sustainability and cost efficiency compels infrastructure managers to prolong the use of existing structures, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and optimising financial resources. To achieve these objectives, assessment procedures must quantify uncertainty and guide rational strategies for inspection, testing, monitoring, intervention planning and design.This thesis presents a comprehensive system reliability and updating framework for the service-life assessment of concrete bridges affected by corrosion. The framework integrates probabilistic modelling with inspection, testing, and monitoring data, enabling the formulation of models that reflect actual degradation.The proposed framework advances existing approaches by modelling bridges as nested systems of failure modes, sections, and elements, capturing dependencies and interactions among degradation mechanisms. Using survival information and heterogeneous data sources enables probabilistic estimates of residual life that can meaningfully inform maintenance prioritisation and planning.The applicability and generality of the framework are demonstrated through two case studies on a post-tensioned and a reinforced concrete deck. For post-tensioned concrete bridges, it captures the occurrence of defects and spatially variable corrosion, demonstra...