Concepts for the assessment of bridges with the risk of stress corrosion cracking

Concepts for the assessment of bridges with the risk of stress corrosion cracking The networks of the road construction authorities and DB AG still contain a significant number of bridges manufactured with steel endangered by stress corrosion cracking. Although there are guidelines that provide computational and material assessment, they do not always lead to a (desired) result and the final definition of appropriate measures. In this context permanent monitoring has played a subordinate role, even though the degradation processes and their consequences occurring in the structure can be excellently resolved and the continuous information gives the possibility to state the condition of the structure at any time. The present article composes the existing rules and shows the possibilities and limitations of the recommended methods. Subsequently, examples for the implementation of monitoring systems are presented each for a building with and without computational announcement before collapse.