• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.239-249
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• 2003

The bridges, which were built between 20 and 30 years ago in rural area, have to support unexpected overload caused by excessive amount of transportation. For these rural bridges, repairs and replacements are needed. To avoid the high cost of rehabilitation, the bridge rating must correctly report the present load-carrying capacity. Rating engineers use Allowable Stress Design (ASD), Load Factor Design (LFD), and Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) to evaluate the bridge load carrying capacity. In this paper, the load rating methods are introduced, and it is illustrated how to use the load test data from literature survey. Load test is conducted to the bridge that was built 30 years ago in rural area. From load test results, new maintenance strategy is suggested instead of the bridge replacement.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.359-371
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• 2022

Bridges are critical to the civil engineering infrastructure network as they facilitate movement of people, the transportation of goods and services. Given the aging of bridge infrastructure, federal officials mandate visual inspections biennially to identify necessary repair actions which are time, cost, and labor-intensive. Additionally, the expansion joints of bridges are rarely monitored due to cost. However, expansion joints are critical as they absorb movement from thermal effects, loadings strains, impact, abutment settlement, and vehicle motion movement. Thus, the need to monitor bridge expansion joints efficiently, at a low cost, and wirelessly is desired. This paper addresses bridge joint monitoring needs to develop a cost-effective, real-time wireless system that can be validated in a full-scale bridge structure. To this end, a wireless expansion joint monitoring was developed using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) sensors. An in-service bridge was selected as a testbed to validate the performance of the developed system compared with traditional displacement sensor, LVDT, temperature and humidity sensors. The short-term monitoring campaign with the wireless sensor system with the internet protocol version 6 over the time slotted channel hopping mode of IEEE 802.15.4e (6TiSCH) network showed reliable results, providing high potential of the developed system for effective joint monitoring at a low cost.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.217-224
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• 2002

This paper is proposed a reasonable method for determining the dynamic properties, the impact factors caused by traffic loads on highway bridges. In addition, the impact factors obtained in previous inspection reports were classified by the span length of the bridge, kind of bridge and type of bridge and the result of the impact factor was adjusted by a statistical method and presented problems. Also, the method for determining the impact factor using traffic load is proposed and the proposed method is compared with the specification code. The method estimating the impact factors due to the traffic loads can efficiently recognize the response of the structure by providing the impact factors and help to save the investigation cost, and also it can be used for the maintenance of structures using the usual test of bridges.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.407-418
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to present an Integrated Life Cycle Bridge Information Modeling that can be used throughout different phases of the bridge life cycle including: design, construction, and operation and maintenance phases. Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) has become an effective tool in bridge engineering and construction. It has been used in obtaining accurate shop drawings, cost estimation, and visualization. In this paper, BrIM is used as an integrated tool for bridges life cycle information modeling. In the design phase, BrIM model can be used in obtaining optimum construction methods and performing structural advanced analysis. During construction phase, the model selects the appropriate locations for mobile cranes, monitors the status of precast components, and controls documents. Whereas, it acts as a tool for bridge management system in operation and maintenance phase. The paper provides a detailed description for each use of BrIM model in design, construction, and operation and maintenance phases of bridges. It is proven that BrIM is an effective tool for bridge management systems throughout their life phases.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.379-393
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• 2012

Many steel bridge infrastructures in the world are getting older, and a large number of these structures are in need of maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement. Most of them are subjected to corrosion due to exposure to aggressive environmental conditions and inadequate maintenance, causing reduction of their carrying capacities. In order to have an adequate bridge management, it is of paramount importance to develop an efficient, accurate and rapid condition assessment method which can be used to make reliable decisions affecting the cost and safety. Therefore, a simple and accurate method of calculating remaining yield and tensile strength by using a concept of representative effective thickness with correlation of initial thickness and maximum corroded depth is proposed in this study, based on the results of many tensile coupon tests of corroded plates obtained from a steel plate girder with severe corrosion, used for about 100 years. Furthermore, a strength reduction diagram which will be very useful for bridge inspection engineers to make rational decisions about the maintenance management of aged steel bridge infrastructures is presented.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Railway
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.71-77
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• 2010

It is increasing annually that the cost for bridge Maintenance Repair & Rehabilitation (MR&R) in developed countries. Based on Intelligent Technology, Bridge Management System (BMS) is developed for optimization of Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and reliability to predict long-term bridge deteriorations. However, such data are very limited amongst all the known bridge agencies, making it difficult to reliably predict future structural performances. To alleviate this problem, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based Backward Prediction Model (BPM) for generating missing historical condition ratings has been developed. Its reliability has been verified using existing condition ratings from the Maryland Department of Transportation, USA. The function of the BPM is to establish the correlations between the known condition ratings and such non-bridge factors as climate and traffic volumes, which can then be used to obtain the bridge condition ratings of the missing years. Since the non-bridge factors used in the BPM can influence the variation of the bridge condition ratings, well-selected non-bridge factors are critical for the BPM to function effectively based on the minimized discrepancy rate between the BPM prediction result and existing data (deck; 6.68%, superstructure; 6.61%, substructure; 7.52%). This research is on the generation of usable historical data using Artificial Intelligence techniques to reliably predict future bridge deterioration. The outcomes (Long-term Bridge deterioration Prediction) will help bridge authorities to effectively plan maintenance strategies for obtaining the maximum benefit with limited funds.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.277-290
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• 2010

Internationally the load carrying capacity of bridges is decreasing due to material deterioration while at the same time increasing live loads mean that they are often exposed to stresses for which they were not designed. However there are limited resources available to ensure that these bridges are fit for purpose, meaning that new approaches to bridge maintenance are required that optimize both their service lives as well as maintenance costs. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide a tool that could support such an optimized maintenance program. In many situations WSNs have advantages over conventional wired monitoring systems in terms of installation time and cost. In order to evaluate the potential of these systems two WSNs were installed starting in July 2007 on the Humber Bridge and on a nearby approach bridge. As part of a corrosion prevention strategy, a relative humidity and temperature monitoring system was installed in the north anchorage chambers of the main suspension bridge where the main cables of the bridge are anchored into the foundation. This system allows the Bridgemaster to check whether the maximum relative humidity threshold, above which corrosion of the steel wires might occur, is not crossed. A second WSN which monitors aspects of deterioration on a reinforced concrete bridge located on the approach to the main suspension bridge was also installed. Though both systems have provided useful data to the owners, there are still challenges that must be overcome in terms of monitoring corrosion of steel, measuring live loading and data management before WSNs can become an effective tool for bridge managers.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.225-226
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• 2002

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.148-158
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• 2011

As critical infrastructure, bridges play an indispensable role in facilitating the distribution of goods. When bridges reach their end of useful life or get damaged by natural disasters such as earthquakes or storms, they have to be removed and reconstructed. When bridges in service need to be reconstructed, user costs occur from vehicle detours and traffic congestions, and social costs occur from noise and dust during construction periods. However, these user and social costs are not considered during reconstruction and the evaluation methods of those costs are vague. Thus, there is lack of appropriate bridge types that consider these costs. Therefore, this paper identifies the social overhead costs that occur during bridge reconstruction, which is also called, users' socioeconomic values. Next, it proposes a method to evaluate user costs during bridge reconstruction, and appraises the method. User costs are evaluated based on traffic information, social and material volumes including the bridge's daily traffic volume, peak hours, detour distance and time. In addition, time delay costs due to traffic operational costs and bridge reconstruction are also taken into consideration.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.101-107
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• 2000

In this study, the Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR) was tested to evaluate the condition of concrete decks. Test results obtained by CPR were compared with values measured from drilled cores and damage mapping by the visual survey. It is shown that GPR can provide highly accurate measurements of layer properties of concrete decks and can map areas of deterioration in bridge decks by dielectric constants. The deck condition can be grouped into categories of "good" or "distressed". The ground penetrating radar data shows promise for producing rapid and accurate condition assessment for bridge decks. And these data can be used to evaluate highway bridge condition and make cost-effective bridge deck rehabilitation by accurately estimating the quantity of deteriorated concrete.