Optimal strengthening of RC bridges with degradation in safety due to chloride induced deterioration

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a method of evaluating the degradation in safety and determining the optimum time and degree of strengthening for existing concrete bridges. For optimization of strengthening, the utility function is introduced to express the objective function as the measure of effectiveness of design lifetime, safety and load carrying capacity. The genetic algorithm (GA) was applied to a searching procedure of global extreme value of the objective function. Proposed method was applied on actual existing bridge of 44 years old.