ABSTRACT
In this paper the regional monitoring guidelines developed in the framework of a collaboration agreement between Politecnico di Milano and Regione Lombardia are described. The document provides guidance for the design of monitoring systems aimed to provide information to support a range of decision problems including maintenance and emergency management, occasional safety assessment and support to standardization. The design process of a monitoring system is described in the guidelines as a stepwise procedure that originates from the needs of the decision maker and comprises: a) preliminary investigation to acquire knowledge about the specific bridge and the deterioration process to monitor; b) identification of the indicators able to provide information about the structural performance (deterioration processes, actions and environmental conditions); c) the selection of the technical devices to manage (acquire, process, transmit and store) the monitoring information. The description of nine pilot monitoring systems, deployed on several bridges in the Lombardia region as demonstrators of the proposed approach, concludes the paper.
