A multidimensional approach for hydraulic risk assessment on existing bridges: outcomes from in field applications

The Italian Superior Council of Public Works has recently released the “Guidelines for risk classification and management, Safety Evaluation and monitoring of Existing Bridges” (LLGG). A large-scale implementation of the prescribed procedures was developed within the Fabre Consortium to assess the class of attention of existing bridges concerning the hydraulic risk. A first round of practical applications of these guidelines enabled to reach a deeper knowledge of the existing infrastructures, collecting fundamental technical and functional details of a large number of bridges. The in-field assessments also suggested a series of procedural refinements for the application of the LLGG in order to improve the value of the collected material and to guarantee homogeneity, at national level, in their application. This contribution aims at providing a statistical interpretation of the extensive data collection and hydraulic class assessment carried out so far. Although LLGG application has proven to be innovative and efficient, critical aspects and enhancing proposal are also discussed within this contribution.