ABSTRACT
A significant percentage of assets within the Italian national bridge stock have exceeded their nominal design service life, leading to an escalating number of structural failures over time. While it is impractical to replace all existing infrastructure, the focus has shifted to maintenance and upkeep, commonly achieved through the implementation of well-planned and prioritized maintenance interventions. To effectively manage their bridge stock, infrastructure managers thus require a prioritization tool capable of rapidly assessing the urgent need for maintenance of a particular unit. The present study introduces a novel and expeditious structural reliability model. Specifically, this model provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating risk factors related to overload and degradation, seismic response, hydraulic and landslides conditions, and a detailed formalization of the most widespread ones i.e., overload and degradation. The latter was developed to be applied to the bridges of the Italian highway operator Autostrade Alto Adriatico to enhance their stock management processes. The simplified reliability model presented in this article represents a departure from the complex and time-consuming methodologies currently employed, as it efficiently provides an informative value of Structural Reliability in a proper and expeditious manner. This expeditious approach allows infrastructure managers to promptly discern bridges in critical condition, enabling the swift detection of rapidly deteriorating structures and ensuring timely interventions to enhance user safety.
