Human society is greatly affected when key infrastructures such as bridges and buildings collapse. Why do we see these occurring more often? Despite the undeniable fact that there have been significant advances in engineering and technology, today much of the built infrastructure are reaching or have already reached the end of the useful life for which they were designed. These ageing infrastructures have been exposed to many deterioration processes over the years, resulting in significant uncertainty over their actual structural condition and loading capacity.
In addition, increased traffic and vehicle loads combined with the increased frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events due to climate change, means that many essential structures are now frequently exposed to phenomena that were not envisaged when they were conceived.
What can we do to avoid more structural failures?
a) Monitor the structural health of infrastructures.
b) Develop and enforce adequate structural maintenance plans and intervention strategies.
c) Design infrastructures to be more robust, and insensitive to local failures that can propagate to the rest of the structure.
