ABSTRACT
About one-third of steel bridges in the US are 50 years old, or older, and many more are nearing that age.1 As the number of bridges nearing old age increases the need for inspection and maintenance becomes increasingly important. At the same time the resources which can be allocated to the proper maintenance of bridges is shrinking. Older bridges are more susceptible to problems of aging such as corrosion and fatigue. This paper demonstrates the use of first-order reliability methods (FORM) and linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) to update the estimated probability of fatigue failure of steel bridge details based on the results of inspections.
