Quality specifications for roadway bridges in Europe: overview of COST action TU1406

Abstract

Quality control frameworks are being implemented wordwide by bridge owners. In the case of highway bridges, the definition of a set of performance goals at component, system and network level and the proposal of the corresponding performance indicators allows to develop a performance-based oriented management for the quality control of their bridge stocks. In Europe there is a large disparity from country to country regarding the way performance indicators are quantified and goals specified. Therefore, a discussion at a European networking level, seeking to achieve an agreement and a standardized approach in this subject, will bring significant benefits. To this end, COST Action TU1406 brought together research and practicing communities from all over Europe in order to establish a European guideline. The main objective of COST Action TU-1406 was to establish quality specifications for roadway bridges that could be accepted on a European basis. In this way, the feasibility of standardization at a European level is proposed. This paper presents the main results of the project.