OVERVIEW OF EUROPEAN ACTIVITIES IN THE HEALTH MONITORING OF BRIDGES

Infrastructure management is becoming one of the key issues in the approach to sustainable development of modern countries. In Europe, most of the transportation networks like highways and railways, as well as ports and inland navigation facilities, have been built decades or centuries ago and are subject to ageing and obsolescence. In particular, owners of highway systems are developing increasing interest in experiencing advanced methods for surveillance and monitoring. The aim of these activities is first of all to detect the deterioration process already in its initiation phase and to investigate and identify the causes of deterioration. In this framework, health monitoring is representing one of the most valuable tools for the decision making process concerning maintenance of bridges. After giving a broad view of the consistency of the European stock of road bridges, the paper discusses some experiences that are being conducted and their possible contribution to the improvement of existing practices.