A case for adding an inspection level related to structural health monitoring (SHM) for bridge evaluation

The Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC) uses the concept of a target reliability index for evaluating the load carrying capacity of existing bridges. This index, which is based on risk to human life, relates to three aspects of uncertainties inherent in a bridge: (a) element behaviour, (b) system behavior, and (c) inspection level, where the inspection level currently refers to only manual inspections. Citing examples of tests on many instrumented bridges, the paper proposes an additional inspection level for inspections done with the help of electronic instruments and tests under controlled vehicle loads. The paper proposes simple additions to clauses of the CHBDC, for use when determining the optimum load carrying capacities of existing bridges where structural health monitoring information is available.