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International Seminar "Maintenance of Bridges"

28-30 May 2015, Bucharest (Romania)

The International Seminar on "Maintenance of Bridges" was held by the Technical Committee 4.3 "Road Bridges" and the Professional Association for Roads and Bridges (APDP) of Romania.

It gathered 44 attendees from Romania and from the technical committee.

Preparatory Document for the International Seminar

Summary of the Seminar

The economic development of a country is based on the road network which includes bridges in an appropriate state of viability. The certainty of a high viability state of the bridges in operation can only be achieved by using the risk analysis for bridges, adequate inspection and monitoring methods, by making a correct evaluation of the degradation and adopting optimal solutions for repairs and rehabilitation. The seminar was a good opportunity to share the information and experience referring to these challenges and dealt with (1) Management, (2) Inspection (3) Repair and Rehabilitation (4) Evaluation (5) Inspection and Monitoring (6) Construction.

The seminar has obtained a lot of contributions due to discussions on important topics such as risk analyses and risk management of bridges, bridge inspection, new bridge repair and rehabilitation methods, estimation of load carrying capacity of bridges, monitoring of bridges and nevertheless rehabilitation solutions. Various rehabilitation solutions, inspection and monitoring methods of the bridges were presented during the two-day technical sessions. The similarity of concepts, in spite of local peculiarities, led participants to call for a common inspection method of bridge structures.

The session called "Evaluation", summed up the solutions for the evaluation of the bearing capacity of bridges applied in different countries, illustrated in concrete examples. The presentations provided important information about the evaluation possibilities of the forces which act upon the cable stays and also the advantages of using the WIM system as the non-destructive determination of the bearing capacity. New technologies associated with material improvement and new design for modern repair and rehabilitation methods for bridges were also presented. The Romanian experts have presented repair and rehabilitation solutions applicable to the reinforced concrete structures under acceptable financial conditions. These solutions, which are specific for small structures, differ from those used for bridges with big spans and the cable stayed ones. It was emphasized, that the maintenance of the bridges is less expensive if the repair or rehabilitation solution, chosen by the designer is from financial point of view at least at an average level. It was also concluded that the viability state of bridges cannot be maintained without an adequate expense level.

This much appreciated seminar was concluded by a particularly relevant visit of to the Basarab Overpass, Mihai Bravu Bridge and Otopeni Overpass, in the vicinity of the Romanian capital.

Internation Seminar Program - 28-30 May 2015
"Maintenance of Bridges"

Day 1

9:00
9:40

Registration

9:40
10:00

Opening session

10:00
12:00

Management

Risk analysis and risk management of bridges
Børre STENSVOLD (Norway)

The French methodology of risk analysis on bridges
Laurent LLOP
(France)

Bridge management system for the preservation of structures of the South African national roads agency soc limited
Elma LOURENS
(South Africa)

Basic level bridge maintenance
Marian RAICU (Romania)

12:00
13:30

Lunch

13:30
15:00

Inspection

Inspection accreditation, non-destructive testing and condition of bridges
Dimitrios KONSTANTINIDIS
(Greece)

Bridge inspection and condition evaluation programs in Korea
Heungbae GIL (South Korea)

Inspection and maintenance of bridges in UK
David ASHURST
(UK)

15:00
15:30

Coffee break

15:30
17:30

Repair and Rehabilitation

New bridge repair and rehabilitation methods
Pierre GILLES (Belgium)

Repair and rehabilitation of bridges in Italy
Michele MELE (Italy)

External prestressing consolidation of frame bridge over Olt River in Ramnicu Valcea
Florian BURTESCU (Romania)

Bridge Strengthening on DJ 102F, Km 3+200, over the river Saratel
Corina CHIOTAN (Romania)

Day 2

9:00
10:00

Evaluation

Estimation of load carrying capacity of bridges based on damage and deficiency
Kiyohiro IMAI
(Japan), Scot BECKER (USA)

Stay cables in long span bridges: forces determined by frequencies measurement: a quick and reliable method
Pierre GILLES (Belgium)

10:00
10:30

Coffee break

10:30
11:30

Evaluation

Benefiting from bridge weigh-in-motion data in bridge assessment
Aleš ŽNIDARI? (Slovenia)

Using probabilistic methods in the study of structural safety of concrete bridges with time-varying loads and resistance
Florian BURTESCU (Romania)

11:30
13:00

Lunch

13:00
14:30

Inspection and Monitoring

Structural monitoring of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge
Kiyohiro IMAI (Japan)

Development of inspection and maintenance technologys for cable supported bridges
Heungbae GIL (South Korea)

Monitoring and checking integrated system for the viability state of bridges
Cristian-Claudiu COMISU (Romania)

14:30
15:00 

Coffee break

15:00
17:00

Réparation et remise en état

Rehabilitation of a tied arch bridge
Scot BECKER (USA)

Rehabilitation project of long span cable-stayed bridge damaged by ships collision
Yoichi SATO (Japan)

Rehabilitated centenary bridges of Timisoara, observed in exploitation
Adrian BOTA (Romania)

Rehabilitation of the bridges damaged because of the floods
Victor POPA (Romania)

17:00
17:15

Coffee break

17:15
17:45

Construction

Long span bridges in Norway
Borre STENSVOLD (Norvway)

17:45
18:00 

Presentations of bridges included in Technical visit

Basarab Overpass
Mihai Bravu Bridge
Ion URSU (Romania)

Otopeni Overpass
Victor POPA (Romania)

18:00
18:10

Closing session

Day 3

9:00
13:00

Technical visit


Slideshow of the International Seminar in Bucharest

  • Tribune of the Seminar

  • Attendees of the Seminar

  • Audience of the Seminar