Markovian approach for life-cycle assessment and maintenance planning of a steel bridge

The assessment of the life-cycle performance of deteriorated structures can be formulated as a reliability problem involving a transition process through different levels of performance. A probabilistic approach, such as a Markovian approach, can represent a proper tool for interpreting transition processes. The proposed procedure has been applied on a steel bridge located in an industrial area with a significant pollution rate to assess its life-cycle performance and to plan appropriate selective maintenance.