Abstract:
Highway Bridges play a key role in the road based transportation system. There
are 4456 highway bridges in Class A, Class B and Class AB roads in Sri Lanka,
as per the "Annual Report, Road Development Authority – 2015". Significant
portion of those bridges are reaching their design life. Therefore, a proper
maintenance system, which includes preventive maintenance for these highway
bridges is an essential requirement.
Road Development Authority (RDA) is the principal organization, which
handles the road related infrastructure in Sri Lanka. RDA conducts inspection on
bridge structures, assesses their functionality, and carries out repair and
rehabilitation works. The current method of inspection and assessment has been
followed since 1997. RDA is in the process of upgrading their Bridge
Management System (BMS) and still practicing the old system, which was
implemented in year 1997.
The current method of inspection and assessment is not comprehensive enough
to grasp the necessary distresses. Only basic information, with respect to
distresses, are collected in the process of bridge inspection. The present study
provides a detailed review of the current method of inspection, which is
followed by RDA, Sri Lanka. The current local system is compared with the
advanced Bridge Inspection Systems in several other countries. At the same
time, necessary feedback about the current method of inspection is sought from
the bridge inspectors at RDA. This study revealed several shortcomings of the
current system. Hence, an improved Bridge Inspection and Assessment System,
which overcomes most of the shortcomings in the current system is proposed
with the present study.
Citation:
Indrajith, W.P.R. (2019). Inspection and assessment system of highway bridges in Sri Lanka [Master’s theses, University of Moratuwa]. Institutional Repository University of Moratuwa.http://dl.lib.mrt.ac.lk/handle/123/15819