Literature Review

Evaluation of bridges for performance and life expectancy.

Some studies have been performed earlier to investigate the condition of existing bridges and
propose retrofitting measures
However, there exists a need to have a survey of existing bridge structures and classify them
based on the type of structure. Further incorporating these information using GIS to a system
can help to retrieve the data for any further development as well.
Running Head: Bridge Management System for Sri Lanka, incorporating GIS Database
System.

Development of a Bridge Management System to evaluate technical state and structural

performance of Local Road Bridges for their life expectancy.

Currently Sri Lanka has about 4800 bridges on National Highway Network (A & B class roads)
spanning over the country. The majority of the bridges were constructed about 50 years ago
leaving local authorities to be much more vigilant about the current technical state of the
bridges as bridge stock elements deteriorate with aging due to the natural and artificial
occurrences. The deterioration of bridge stock elements will ultimately result in major
catastrophic failures endangering road users’ lives. ‘Normally bridges are directly exposure to
severe environmental conditions and deterioration could occur with time. This deterioration
process can lead to eventual failure of the bridge. Therefore periodic bridge inspection systems
are required.’ (Pradeep. L et al. 2010). The common decoration mechanisms are corrosion of
bridge reinforcement due to Chloride environment, carbonation of concrete, alkali-silica
reaction, atmospheric acidic corrosion and freeze-thaw cycles. Out of above deterioration
mechanisms, bridge damages due to freeze-thaw cycles cannot be observed under the local
conditions whereas the rest of the occurrences need to be investigated thoroughly in terms of
damages caused to the bridges over the environmental exposure event. Other than bridge
damages created over deterioration, several other predictable bridge failure types can be
defined as, mechanical damages causing stains and cracks; infrastructure issues triggered by
oversized loading; extreme weather events - flood related damages; accidents; construction
incidents; manufacturing errors; fires and earthquakes. In the present paper under the literature
review section it is intended to investigate what is the past researchers’ contribution towards
assessment of the above stated bridge failure mechanism in terms of impact on the structural
health and durability performance of local bridge structures.
As to begin with present structural condition and reliability assessment of local Sri Lankan
steel bridges which were constructed in last 50-60 years, it is identified that the authorities
should be much vigilant about the technical states of the bridge in terms of performance and
life expectancy. Majority of them are currently beyond their expected design lives and
construction materials of such bridges, e.g. ‘Steel, Cast Iron and Wrought Iron, have been
exposed to the degrading effects of the environment and are in need of structural and
geometrical improvements to withstand the higher axle loads of the heavier present day traffic’
(Chandrasiri B.Y.D.N. & Jayasinghe M.T.R, 2001, p.1). Chandrasiri B.Y.D.N. & Jayasinghe
(2001, p.1) further claim that 60% of the older bridges were designed encompassing deck width
less than 8.0m which is not sufficient to accommodate present day traffic conditions and 8.0 m
deck width is considered minimally requirement in the modern day highway/road infrastructure
built environment. In this regard ‘many bridges can be considered as functionally obsolete
when called to cater to the present day traffic requirements. A functionally obsolete bridge is
one ·whose vertical clearance distance from bottom of stringer/ cross beam/ soffit of truss, to
roadway or water level below), approach roadway alignment or deck geometry, (available
roadway width) no longer safely or comfortably serves the network of which it is an integral
part.’(Chandrasiri B.Y.D.N. & Jayasinghe M.T.R, 2001, p.1).

A further assessment on steel bridge deterioration due to corrosion of steel is presented below
which is based on the research, ‘Fatigue, deterioration and system analysis of the Boyne
Viaduct’ by Connolly, Connor & Bowe 2017, since the above discussed threat to the aging Sri
Lankan steel bridges due to the environmental corrosion has been identified. The Boyne
viaduct located on the main Dublin-Belfast railway line comprises 15 masonry arch spans and
three steel truss spans. The system analysis conducted for bridge deterioration taking place in
the viaduct had focused on the central steel span which was constructed around 1932.

As it has been investigated in the research by Connolly, Connor & Bowe 2017, ‘Corrosion of
steel structures is generally classified as general (uniform) corrosion or localized (pitting)
corrosion. An inspection of the structure indicated that pitting was the primary corrosion
mechanism taking place. Previous authors have used the Degree of Pitting (DOP) to model the
degree of breakdown due to pitting corrosion. For the current study, this is defined as the ratio
percentage of the corroded cross sectional area to the original cross sectional area, since the
capacity calculation is based on a localised cross-section. The pits are generally assumed to be
circular in shape and it can be assumed that the spacing and diameter are constant for a given
pitting scenario.’ (Connolly et al. 2010, p.4)
The resulted DOP s over the research study are 16.67%, 50.0% and 83.33% and the researches
were intended to model the depth of pitting corrosion stochastically using an extensive model.
As the following step under the corrosion modelling a measurement-based probabilistic fatigue
assessment of the structure was performed at the monitored locations and therefore identified
the rail bearers as the most fatigue critical sections out of many (Connolly et al. 2010, p.5).
Ultimately as the key outcome gained over the ‘probabilistic corrosion modelling and system
analysis of three of the most critical elements on the structure’ a reliability index for the viaduct
was obtained to be 4.323 a value covering 100 years from the date of research publication. As
Connolly, Connor & Bowe (2017, p. 6) predict, a reliability index value may be obtained if
corrosion protection records detailed under service records were accounted.

The results achieved over the above two researches declare and validate the effects caused on
aged steel bridges in Sri Lanka by corrosion taking place due to environmental exposure. A
methodology involving reliability index rating constituent to estimate the degree of the
corrosion has been evaluated under the research, ‘Fatigue, deterioration and system analysis of
the Boyne Viaduct’ by Connolly, Connor & Bowe 2017 which can be incorporated in the
present research as an one of the assessment tool to investigate the current technical of the local
bridges to be evaluated.

Chloride induced corrosion in local slab and beam-reinforced concrete bridges is another
important and apparent bridge failure mechanism under local conditions which needs to be
evaluated when classifying possible failure causes in terms of local bridge condition
assessment structural performance. As per a research conducted on the structural assessment
of reinforced concrete bridges exposed to Chloride environment, more importantly the most
salient pitfall to deteriorate concrete bridges was discovered as Cholride attack. The so called
failure concern ultimately directs towards flexural capacity reduction caused over reinforced
steel area reduction due to corrosion. In regard to the determination of the magnitude of
corrosion taken place in terms of flexural capacity reduction Accelerated Corrosion Testing
Method (ACTM) was proposed to be carried out at the laboratory. The test procedure involved
with load testing along with comparison made between deteriorated concrete beam and control
beam in order to test for the reduction of flexural capacity in the deteriorated beam. The test
results indicated that fifty percentage of area in steel was reduced which ultimately lead towards
reducing more than seventy percent flexural capacity in deteriorated beam compared to the
control beam (Pradeep. L et al. 2010, p.1).
As Pradeep. L et al. (2010, p. 1) stated under the research objectives, it was proposed to
introduce bridge componential deterioration prediction curves in aid of introducing bridge
rehabilitation strategies related to the bridge maintenances requirements derived over the
deterioration prediction curves (Pradeep. L et al. 2010, p.1).

When evaluating concrete bridges for structural deficiencies resulted by Chloride induced
corrosion the methodology that can be followed mainly is visual inspection with Non-
destructive Testing (NDT). The structural elements integrated with the bridge structure that
will be visually inspected and subjected to the NDT are deck, piers, deck layering, drainage,
girders, beams, handrail and embankment. The structural condition and performance were
proposed to be predicted based on soundness score after the evaluation of bridges conducted
through a visual inspection. Performance of soundness score based on the current structural
state of the bridge element and the preconditioned weighted value assigned for bridge elements.
Consequently with effects of the results gathered by the soundness score bridge elements can
be rated assigning a subjective rating scale. In addition to severe pits caused by Chloride
corrosion, cracks on elements; spalling of concrete and corroded reinforcement can be regarded
as vital attributes evaluating condition state of bridge elements. With the provision of National
Bridge Inventory US (1995) the bridges could also be rated in fulfillment of its specifications
(Pradeep. L et al. 2010, p.2).

By having inspected twenty seven bridges along the coastal belt and inside the island, it was
identified that number of deteriorated bridges is higher in the coastal bound compared to the
bridges situated inside the country. Chloride attack materialized to be the potential failure cause
in such situations. As per the results emerged by the ‘Accelerated Corrosion Testing’, around
70% reduction of bearing capacity was observed in the test beam (deteriorated beam) compared
to the control beam. In order to determine the weight loss of the reinforcement steel due to
corrosion Pradeep. L et al. (2010, p. 1) further recommend to conduct the estimation of lost
steel by measuring the induced crack widths causing loss of reinforcement steel area (Pradeep.
L et al. 2010, p.2).

When the environmental effects combined with other failure mechanisms taking place on
bridge structures, i.e., corrosion with fatigue, the consequential results are more detrimental
which could lead to major catastrophic bridge failures. When both corrosion and fatigue act
simultaneously on aged bridge structures, the impact which will create is rather disastrous than
two of the failure mechanisms act separately on a bridge structure. The fatigue occurrences are
typically originated over the vehicle-induced fatigue damages. The research paper titled
‘Corrosion fatigue effects on life estimation of deteriorated bridges under vehicle impacts’ by
Zhang W. & Yuan, H. 2014 presents a comprehensive analysis of the corrosion fatigue effects
on the bridge performance and life expectation of deteriorated bridges subjected to dynamic
vehicle loads.

Corrosion fatigue is more detrimental that of either one acting separately. The safety and
reliability are greatly endangered by the combined effects from environmental corrosions and
vehicle-induced fatigue damages, which could possibly lead to a catastrophic failure.

In this paper, the corrosion fatigue effects on life estimation of deteriorated bridges subjected
to dynamic vehicle loads are evaluated based on a reliability-based approach.

Both the road surface deterioration and the structural member corrosion are considered in the
vehicle-bridge dynamic system for stress range estimations. Varied material corrosion rates,
vehicle types, vehicle speeds, and time-varied road surface conditions are considered. At the
end of each stress block, the fatigue life is estimated by evaluating the cumulative probability
of failure.

The effects of the corrosion induced area loss and moment of inertia reduction are limited and
are much less than the random effects from road surface condition.

Corrosion induced fatigue strength reduction have a large effect on fatigue life. More than 60%
reduction of fatigue life is predicted for different corrosion levels. The fatigue strength
reduction is found more sensitive for the fatigue life estimation.
With the refined vehicle-bridge dynamic analysis model and a refined material corrosion
model, it is possible to assess the time-variant damages from random vehicle loads,
environmental corrosion and their combined effects

Based on the monitoring data, a measurement-based probabilistic fatigue assessment of the structure was
performed at the monitored locations. A full description of the method is given in [4]. It was shown that the rail
bearers were the most fatigue critical section monitored. In this section, a model-based assessment will be
performed for the rail bearers
Fatigue, deterioration and system analysis of the Boyne Viaduct
The Boyne viaduct lies on the main Dublin-Belfast railway line and consists of 15 masonry
arch spans and three steel truss spans. This work is focused on the central steel span (Fig. 1),
which was constructed around 1932. It is now vital that the structure is appropriately
assessed, as it is currently beyond its expected design life.

Corrosion of steel structures is generally classified as general (uniform) corrosion or localised

(pitting) corrosion [8]. An inspection of the structure indicated that pitting was the primary
corrosion mechanism taking place. Previous authors [8] have used the Degree of Pitting (DOP)
to model the degree of breakdown due to pitting corrosion. For the current study, this is defined
as the ratio percentage of the corroded cross sectional area to the original cross sectional area,
since the capacity calculation is based on a localised cross-section. The pits are generally
assumed to be circular in shape and it can be assumed that the spacing and diameter are constant
[8] for a given pitting scenario.

The iconic Boyne Viaduct located in Drogheda, Ireland, is currently beyond its intended
design life and it is now vital that the structure be appropriately assessed to ensure ongoing
safety in practice.

In this paper, a reliability analysis of the central span of the steel superstructure is used to
optimise a Structural Health Monitoring strategy.
Methods

The data is used to calibrate an FE model and update the uncertainty in the reliability
analysis. Structural dynamics were considered by way of probabilistic dynamic amplification
of live load effects.

Probabilistic models for steel pitting corrosion are employed to investigate the effect on the
structural reliability.
An overall reliability index is calculated for the structure based on a system analysis.

Finally, a measurement-based probabilistic fatigue assessment of one of element is compared

to a model-based assessment, with consideration of loading history.

Although the reliability was very high at the Fatigue Limit State, the results show that
consideration of the loading history resulted in an increase in the failure probability, due to
the past presence of freight loading on the structure.