Some Aspect of Bridge Management Systems – Inspection, Evaluation and Maintenance

Changes in properties of concrete bridges, during their usage, demand careful monitoring, registration of defects and damage, and corresponding repairs. Therefore, the serviceability mostly depends on the quality of their maintenance. Maintenance of structures is a big problem due to lack of money for repairs. Safety and functionality of concrete road bridges are of a special importance for the traffic flow continuity in different circumstances including after earthquakes, floods, as well as after vessel or vehicle impact on piers. This is why almost all countries use Bridge Management Systems (BMSs). They include the bridge inspection manuals, guidelines, report writing, bridge condition evaluation and determination of priorities (rating) for maintenance work or rehabilitation to achieve the design service life of bridges. This paper presents a comparative analysis of some documents of certain countries and associations, related to BMSs and their main components.