ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT In Japan, the development of steel bridge infrastructure peaked during the period of high economic growth. In recent years, most of these bridges have reached a critical age. Thus, preventive maintenance management has been introduced to address this challenging issue. Corrosion is a major problem that causes the deterioration of steel infrastructure and affects its long term mechanical performance and durability. Therefore, this paper proposes a methodology to accurately evaluate dew condensation, which is an important factor in the occurrence of bridge corrosion and a contributor to the deterioration of the protective coating. The evaluation of dew condensation as a result of atmospheric temperature and relative humidity was carried out using the weather research and forecasting (WRF) numerical weather prediction technique. Moreover, the corrosion environment of a steel bridge was investigated via field measurements. The evaluation outcome fully confirmed the validity of the proposed method.
