Establishing a knowledge base for bridge aesthetics

A knowledge-based system for the conceptual design of bridges is being developed. As a part of this work a knowledge base for bridge aesthetics is being constructed. The work required to elicit the knowledge is described. Conventional knowledge elicitation has been used but because of the subjectivity of the domain it has been necessary to supplement this with questionnaires. This has provided a way of checking the correctness of the experts' rules. A preliminary knowledge base for assessing the aesthetics of small to medium size road bridges is presented.