ABSTRACT
Reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructure are frequently subjected to loads higher than their design capacity throughout their service life. This situation is more common for RC bridges due to the perpetual increase in axle loads of moving vehicles. Additionally, these infrastructures undergo degradation due to load stressors and environmental stressors, which reduces their load carrying capacity. Thus, increasing loads and reducing capacities pose stakeholders a question about the continued operation of the bridge under acceptable safety criteria. Structural health monitoring (SHM) can aid the stakeholder in making this decision by providing valuable information on the as-built structure. However, the adoption of SHM strategies continues to be limited because the monetary benefit associated with SHM strategies is not known. Value of information (VoI) framework can be adopted to formally quantify the monetary benefits associated with a given SHM strategy. In this study, the authors investigate the question of continued operation of a RC bridge in the case when its performance is governed by its pier under shear. A tiered capacity estimation and performance assessment approach is adopted. A decision scenario reflecting the circumstances and preferences of the stakeholder is formulated. VoI analysis is conducted for a low accuracy strain based measurement system. It is found that the expected value of information (EVI) is highly sensitive to the prior estimates of live load effect. Scenarios resulting in high and low EVI are investigated and conclusions are drawn regarding the benefit of SHM information.
