Service-life extension of transport infrastructure through structural control

Transportation Infrastructure Systems are recognized as essential for economic development, territorial cohesion, and social transformation. Due to the increasing age of bridges, and given that a large part of the existing stock was built several decades ago, some of their key structural components, such as bridges, are getting older while loading conditions are often exceeding those initially envisaged as they are subjected to harsher natural events and growing levels of traffic. The increasing age of bridges, the deterioration phenomena and the increase in service conditions, exceeding those used in the initial design, contribute to reduce their reliability level. This contribution firstly explores the role that structural control can play, then it proposes a suitable measure for the formalization of this role within the life-cycle assessment of bridges and overcrossing structures. The effects of structural control are evaluated for the case study of a cable-supported bridge subjected to fatigue deterioration due to wind actions.