A new masonry arch bridge assessment strategy (SMART)
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http://www.civil.uminho.pt/masonry/Publications/ARCH07/241_250.pdf
Description
Although current masonry arch bridge assessment methods are able to predict the
ultimate carrying capacity of the bridge with some confidence, serious concern was identified
with respect to predicting long-term behaviour and residual life. A new assessment procedure
(SMART) is presented which differs philosophically from all the current techniques in as much
as it takes a holistic approach in considering all possible modes of failures the structure may experience
under any given loading regime. Limit states are discussed and a new permissible limit
state specific for masonry is proposed. From that the method enables the permissible working
loads, long-term behaviour and residual life of the bridge to be found. This can be used to prioritise
conflicting maintenance demands on limited budgets. The method is based upon recent
research related to the long-term fatigue performance of masonry arch bridges subjected to cyclic
loading.
