Determining the repair ranking of existing reinforced concrete bridges using generalized weighted distance method

The D. (Degree) E. (Extent) R. (Relevancy) evaluation method is increasingly adopted to assess the repair ranking of existing reinforced concrete(RC) bridges in Taiwan. The present study is the first to distinguish between relevancy (R-a, a = 1.5, 2) and non-relevancy (R-a, a = 1) for the repair ranking of existing RC bridges to be evaluated. The generalized weighted distance method has been mainly employed to find the optimum repair ranking. Five existing RC bridges, namely Chi-jou, Lanyang. Dah-jea, Dah-duh, and Dah-an in Taiwan, are chosen as practical examples. The investigation's results show that when all the bridges are judged to be non-relevant by the system, the repair ranking rated by the D.E.R. evaluation method is correct. However, when there are one or more important bridges, the repair ranking predicted by the D.E.R evaluation method is not accurate. The proposed method may remedy the shortcoming of the D.E.R. evaluation method. The predicted results are compared with the results obtained from the condition index (CI) and priority index (PI) of the D.E.R. evaluation method.