Performance indicators for European bridge management

Abstract

Bridge management as a part of road infrastructure network includes a series of activities that are interconnected in order to achieve its optimal value, including balancing of required costs, potential risks and overall bridge performance. In this context, different performance levels within bridge management are identified and discussed in this paper. Moreover, bridge performance aspects are overviewed, based on a set of national practice codes/guidelines and research accomplishments related to bridge management across the Europe. In sequence, the categorization of Performance Indicators (PI), within the Key Performance Indictors (KPI) umbrella, is described in relation to Performance Goals (PG) and Performance Thresholds (PT) at different levels taking into account different aspects. In addition, a reference to monitoring based PI is also made and to how they frame in current practices of road bridge management. In order to improve the existent performance assessment methods, further research activities and developments are herein foreseen focusing on the management of roadway bridges. In addition to giving a review on systematization of PIs, the main contribution of this paper is a reflection on extraction and categorization of key performance indicators to improve existing assessment methods within management system of road bridges.