A New Experimental Investigation for Improving Bridge Management Systems and Road Operation Sustainability

Generally, during maintenance operations on bridges and motorway viaducts, the circulation of vehicles is limited or suspended. This causes significant economic losses due to the increase in the costs of transport: delays, increased fuel consumption, higher emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, increased risk of accidents, etc. However, few studies have analyzed the influence of bridge vibrations on the final mechanical properties of the cement mortar placing during ordinary bridge service. As such, interest is increasing in repair techniques that could achieve high structural performance without reducing road service levels. This paper provides the results obtained through an innovative laboratory trials campaign that evaluated the influence of vibrations on the mechanical properties of high-performance mortar used for repairing bridge decks. The results of 24 cubic and prismatic specimens showed the relationship between the traffic-induced vibrations and the mechanical characteristics of the studied mortar. The findings can be considered as the first methodologic step that is necessary to address further field studies, drawing a detailed link between the repair techniques and transportation user costs. Based on the obtained results, a synthetic bridge management system framework was developed that merges the road function into the structural issue with the goals of increasing the resilience of road networks and optimizing the maintenance resources budget.