Bridge Designs to Reduce and Facilitate Maintenance and Repair

An attempt is made to develop a body of information on bridge design concepts and details that will lead to reduced life-cycle maintenance costs and facilitate repair procedures. This includes accessibility, material selection, corrosion protection, ease of rehabilitation, and continued bridge use during retrofit. Concepts to increase communication among design, construction, and maintenance personnel to improve maintenance are proposed. A literature review was made to gather information on bridge design concepts and details related to maintainability. Chapter 1 of this report introduces the study and chapters 2 through 5 present the engineering related concerns: accessibility, design and use of materials, corrosion protection, and designing for rehabilitation and continued use. Chapter 6 presents administrative-related concerns such as effective organizational communication. Conclusions are presented in chapter 7.