Condition assessment of several bridges in Sofia based on visual inspection and as-built drawings

Significant number of bridges in Sofia municipality are in halfway of their exploitation period – they are between 30÷60 years old. At the same time, there is a lack of common methodology for condition assessment of existing bridges (road, railway, pedestrian). Another issue is that there is no Bridge Management Data System, where the information from visual inspections, condition assessments and as-built drawings could be uploaded and used for further operations like regular maintenance activities, prioritization of repair works, planning budget and costs of the relevant authorities. Different structural types of bridge structures in Sofia are described in the paper. The advantages and disadvantages of the considered bridge types with respect to reliability and maintenance are analysed. Several bridges of different types are chosen in order to evaluate their condition based on visual inspection. Possibilities and advantages for implementation of condition assessment rating system based on numerical estimation are discussed.

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