Lifetime robustness of a RC bridge pier under corrosion considering bridge importance

A probabilistic approach to lifetime robustness of deteriorating bridges is presented. The role of the environmental damage on structural robustness is investigated by comparing the performance indicators in the original state, in which the structure is intact, and in a perturbed state, in which a damage scenario is applied. The robustness criterion is formulated by taking the importance of the structure into account. The proposed approach is applied to a reinforced concrete bridge pier with box cross-section exposed to corrosion. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and show the role of the importance of the structure in the assessment of lifetime robustness.