ABSTRACT
A safety factor principle is not sufficient alone to analyze safety reserves in buried pipes because of the variation of the phenomena acting on the behavior of the pipe sewers. In this paper a semi-probabilistic approach to diagnose urban sewers is detailed. This approach is divided in two parts. The first one is based on a simplified probabilistic method (Monte Carlo approach), it concerns only the mechanical behavior of the pipe. The second part of the method is based on the establishing of expert rules to integrate the impact of the pipe behavior on its environment. This method will permit to establish a rational diagnosis of urban sewers towards a sustainable development.
