ABSTRACT
In this paper principal aspects of recent years experience of visual inspection of thousands of road and highways bridges and tunnels are critically presented. Inspection activities have been carried out on bridges, viaducts, tunnels, overpasses and underpasses of different structural typologies (prestressed concrete beam, composite steel-concrete deck, cast-in-place concrete, ecc), along Italian highways and State highways. These activities allowed to pursue awareness regarding operators safety’s importance, developing deep consciousness respect to proper site organization and alternative safety-enhancing procedures. Moreover, a comparison between different inspection checklist and procedures developed by the highways management company is analyzed as current Italian practice and a new proposal for a better and more efficient inspection procedures. Besides, possible application of UAS and AI as supporting tools for visual inspections are pointed out.
