PSI - Issue 78

Carla Grandón-Soliz et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1505–1512

1506

outdated assumptions about load demands, seismic actions, and material degradation rates. Furthermore, the absence of a unified national code for bridge design and maintenance has led to heterogeneous construction practices and uneven safety margins across the network (MOPSV, 2023). In practice, Bolivian engineers often rely on international standards — chiefly those from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) — to guide design and evaluation efforts. While these standards provide robust frameworks, they may not fully reflect Bolivia’s local geotechnical, hydrological, and seismic realities (World Bank, 2022). In this context, the Fisculco Bridge, located on the Jaime Mendoza Diagonal — an interdepartmental highway of strategic national relevance — serves as a representative case study. The bridge not only facilitates regional trade and mobility but also symbolizes Bolivia’s broader ambitions for infrastructural modernization. However, like many other critical structures, it remains vulnerable to seismic activity, flooding, and structural fatigue due to increasing traffic loads. Despite its importance, limited data exist concerning its dynamic behavior, vulnerability to local hazards, and long-term maintenance needs, highlighting a significant knowledge gap in the management of existing bridge assets. Addressing these issues requires the implementation of systematic procedures for structural assessment, classification of vulnerability, and prioritization of interventions in Bolivia. In this regard, the Italian experience — embodied in the Guidelines 2020 — offers a valuable reference framework. Italy has faced similar challenges, especially following high-profile failures such as the collapse of the Polcevera Viaduct (Morandi Bridge) in 2018, which triggered sweeping reforms in bridge management practices and regulations. The Guidelines establish a tiered methodology for the evaluation and classification of existing bridges, integrating visual inspections, structural modeling, material characterization, seismic hazard analysis, and resilience assessment (Manarin et al., 2022). Italy’s approach also emphasizes the creation of Bridge Management Systems (BMS) and the implementation of Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) to enhance data centralization, decision-making, and lifecycle maintenance planning (Biondini & Frangopol, 2020). These practices enable authorities to rationally allocate limited resources, prioritize interventions based on risk, and extend the service life of critical infrastructure. Moreover, the focus on network resilience — particularly for bridges within emergency and logistics corridors —aligns with Bolivia’s current need to safeguard strategic infrastructure from natural and anthropogenic hazards. As main purpose, the present paper aims to explore the potential integration of Italian bridge management practices into the Bolivian regulatory and technical context. Specifically, it seeks to evaluate how the classification systems, inspection protocols, seismic resilience strategies outlined in the Guidelines 2020 could inform the development of a more robust and context-sensitive regulatory framework for Bolivia. The study is intended as a first approach to the knowledge phase of existing bridges by exploiting the potentialities of remote inspections (Sandoli et al. 2023), as a preliminary step supporting the seismic risk assessment. To this scope it has been selected the explanatory case study of the Fisculco bridge, the highest one in Bolivia today. 2. Background and motivations At present, the Bolivian Standards lack specific codes guiding the design and risk assessment of bridges. By contrast, European practices - particularly in Italy – are advanced from this point of view. In fact, they were recently released the Itali an Guidelines 2020 “Linee Guida per la classificazione e gestione del rischio, la valutazione della sicurezza ed il monitoraggio dei ponti esistenti” (MIT, 2020) which offer a detailed framework for risk -based classification, safety assessment, and continuous monitoring of existing bridges. This approach emphasizes the integration of monitoring data into decision-making processes, promoting proactive maintenance and risk mitigation strategies. In this framework, the transfer of knowledge and experience collected in the last year in Italy on this topic appears fundamental to accelerate the development of national regulatory frameworks in the countries lacking Standards, such as in Bolivia. This kind of activity promote training programs for Bolivian engineers in seismic assessment of existing bridges and the management of road networks. These actions will support the establishment of an effective Bridge Management System (BMS), improving the resilience, safety, and lifecycle performance of critical infrastructure like the Fisculco Bridge (Frangopol & Kim, 2022).