ABSTRACT
Internally ducted, post tensioned concrete structures provide one of the most challenging forms of bridges for asset owners to inspect, assess and maintain. Critical load bearing elements are encapsulated and hidden from normal forms of inspection, deterioration can be highly localised and occur with no visible warning signs, and catastrophic failure can be unexpected and brittle in nature. Older structures may have limited as-built information or poor construction tolerances and detailing, further adding to the difficulty for their maintenance and likelihood of hidden deterioration. The UK’s highway maintenance authority – National Highways – have over 1200 post tensioned bridges in their network, and as such have commissioned a research and development programme to investigate existing technologies and approaches that may be deployed on these structures. This has led to a review of technologies that are globally deployed both within and external to the transport infrastructure sector. The study has identified a number of technologies that could be better harnessed on our structures, particularly if supported by better data processing through Artificial Intelligence and/or Machine Learning.
