Life-cicle analysis towards a proactive time of first repair for such coastal RC bridges designed with prescriptive durability provisions

Abstract

Prescriptive durability provisions have been used worldwide for designing concrete structures. Such structures are found to have deteriorated prematurely (unpredicted and suddenly), requiring expensive repairs. In this paper a probabilistic life-cycle deterioration analysis is performed for an upcoming coastal reinforced concrete bridge in India to proactively estimate the time of its first repair. This information is of utmost importance, particularly to support bridge managers defining the budget allocations for maintenance scenarios. This analysis also highlights the inadequacy of the current prescriptive provisions and the importance of adopting the probabilistic durability design for new infrastructures in the future.