ABSTRACT
A reliable prognosis of the condition and behavior of a structure is an important basis for effective service life management. In order to determine the most economical point in time for repair measures in the life-time of a structure, a knowledge about
1 INTRODUCTION
Infrastructure is subject to continuous ageing. This has given life cycle management of infrastructure an important role. Therefore an increasing demand for reliable inspection and monitoring tools is noticeable. The prediction of the service life of a new structure at the design stage or the diagnosis and the evaluation of the residual service life of existing structures is a key aspect of concrete structure management. Life-cycle analysis and risk evaluation methods can be beneficially used to assess existing structures: actions on structures, inspection-oriented design and construction, characteristics of components and structures, life-cycle costs, risk analysis and the environmental performance of a structure over its lifespan are important factors which have to be considered when the remaining service life of an infrastructure building is in question. If the possibility of efficient inspections during construction, operation and maintenance has already been considered during the design phase, one pre-requisite for reliable assessment is given (Haardt, 2010).
