In comparison with the well‐researched field of analysis and design of structural systems, the life‐cycle performance prediction of these systems under no maintenance as well as under various maintenance scenarios is far more complex, and is a rapidly emergent field in structural engineering. As structures become older and maintenance costs become higher, different agencies and administrations in charge of civil infrastructure systems are facing challenges related to the implementation of structure maintenance and management systems based on life‐cycle cost considerations. This article reviews the research to date related to probabilistic models for maintaining and optimizing the life‐cycle performance of deteriorating structures and formulates future directions in this field.

No abstract

The exposure of critical infrastructure to natural and human-induced hazards has severe consequences on world economies and societies. Therefore, resilience assessment of infrastructure assets to extreme events and sequences of diverse hazards is of paramount importance for maintaining their functionality. Yet, the resilience assessment commonly assumes single hazards and ignores alternative approaches and decisions in the restoration strategy. It has now been established that infrastructure owners and operators consider different factors in their restoration strategies depending on the available resources and their priorities, the importance of the asset and the level of damage. Currently, no integrated framework that accounts for the nature and sequence

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

ABSTRACT:A system reliability approach to minimizing the life-cycle cost of a deteriorating structure offers significant advantages such as a rational assessment of the assumed risk of failure, and an understanding of the importance and contribution of individual components to the overall reliability of the structure. The reliability of a structural system as a whole is the measure of its overall performance. This measure has to include both ultimate and serviceability limit states. A system model of a structure traditionally consists of a series-parallel combination of strength-based component limit states. Serviceability limit states however, can play a tremen dously important role in optimizing the inspection and repair of a deteriorating structure. This paper proposes the use of serviceability flags as a means to incorporate serviceability concerns into a strength-based reliability analysis. Using highway bridges as an example, available data sources for serviceability flags are considered. The effect of including serviceability flags in an optimum life-cycle analysis is illustrated on a specific highway bridge.