Quality specifications for roadway bridges in Europe

Abstract

In Europe, there is a large disparity from country to country regarding the way performance indicators are quantified and goals and quality controls specified. The main objective of COST Action TU-1406 is to establish quality specifications for roadway bridge s that could be accepted on a European basis. The application of these com mon specifications will be hi ghly dependent on the changes in philosophy and operational methods (inspection, testing,…) that the new specifica tions will require in the future as a result of their implementation. Therefore, to reduce to a m inimum the possible reluctance of operators to change the actual performance indicators and the methods to obtain them and also to take advantage of the existing background and knowledge and the data-bases availa ble after a lot of years of use, it is m andatory that the new hom ogenized quality specifications proposed as result of the Action are based on the actual practice.