A fuzzy mathematical approach for bridge condition evaluation

There are presently no established guidelines available for a bridge inspector to follow when assessing the significance of multiple deterioration factors on the bridge condition rating. As such, the evaluation of an existing bridge is based on a highly subjective and non-uniform procedure, and usually suffers from imprecision and personal bias. Hence, any attempt to find the optimal solution for bridge management based on such rating procedure can be misleading. However, with the development of a fuzzy mathematical approach, human subjectivity and imprecision can be included systematically in the decision making process.