PSI - Issue 84

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 384–391

© 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) The discussion is substantiated through the presentation of different case studies of existing bridges with typical structural systems found in the Italian road network. This study offers practical insights for engineers/managers dealing with the assessment of bridges and helps identifying the peculiarities and elements that should be included from the beginning of the assessment process, as well as aspects that need further development within the regulatory framework. III Fabre Conference: Existing Bridges, Viaducts, and Tunnels: Research, Innovation, and Applications Assessment of existing bridges, challenges and considerations from recent experiences M. Cademartori a *, C. Vinaccia a , M. Bertagnon a , G. Gazale a , M. Molinari a , D. Pastorelli a , A. Pronesti a , S. Villa a a RINA Consulting, Via Cecchi n.6, Genova 16100, Italy Abstract The Assessment of Existing Bridges, and the overall process of bridge evaluation, is a procedure that requires the involvement of different stakeholders and professionals and usually faces different challenges. Especially for critical infrastructures such as bridges, a key role is played by the input of data such as surveillance, monitoring, and tests. The main goals of the assessment process are to understand the condition of the structure, predict its future behavior, and assess its maintenance needs. The involvement of the authors in several assessment programs in Italy and abroad, leads to different considerations related to the detailed analytical evaluation of bridges that can be applied to both the application of the 2022 Italian Guidelines as well as to the framework required in the international contexts. Several challenges are often encountered, such as the lack of regulatory guidance on specific topics or a generally low level of knowledge about the structure, or the difficulties in performing an adequate testing campaign. Within these considerations, the aim of this paper is to review the available codes and regulations applicable to the assessment of bridges within the Italian and International context. Furthermore, the study highlights the critical issues encountered during the knowledge phase, introducing the concept of the Performance-Based Testing campaign, and analyzing some typical issues that engineers must address during the assessment procedures.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference Keywords: Italian guidelines, testing campaign, bridge assessment, bridge load rating

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-01031961 E-mail address: marcello.cademartori@rina.org

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.06.050