PSI - Issue 44

Gianluca Costantino et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 44 (2023) 1220–1227 Gianluca Costantino et al. / Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2022) 000 – 000

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relevance, analyzing the interaction between the structure and the road network and the consequences of a possible interruption of the operation of the bridge on the socio-economic context in which it is involved. The complexity, the level of detail and the burden of surveys and analyses increase with the level, from Level 0 to Level 5. However, the number of infrastructures which the Guidelines are to be applied to, as well as the level of uncertainty of the obtained results, decreases with the level of the required analysis.

Fig. 1. Multilevel approach and relationships between the analysis levels

Starting from the damage observed on individual structural elements of the bridge (Level 2), the approach proposed by the Guidelines evaluates the level of degradation of the entire bridge as a function of the worst defects or damages found and whether they are on a critical component for the structural safety (e.g., prestressing tendons and dapped ends of girders). The qualitative method provided by the Guidelines is based on just five possible results for the bridge CoA and is not able to prioritize the intervention in the road network. To do that, other additional aspects, which are not treated in the Guidelines, should be considered. For instance, functional efficiency and client impact factor (level of criticality in terms of socio-economic, political and historical considerations) can further guide in the decision-making process (Santarsiero et al. 2021). 3. The web platform In recent years, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model has expanded considerably. The software is hosted in the cloud. Then, the user uses the software by means of his own account from any internet-connected device. This kind of software is generally designed to decouple the GUI from the part of the code application by means of Application Program Interfaces (APIs). To manage the large amount of data and automate the various analysis procedures, the choice has fallen here on the construction of a web application.