PSI - Issue 84

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 497–504

III Fabre Conference: Existing Bridges, Viaducts, and Tunnels: Research, Innovation, and Applications Bridges Resilience and Climate Extremes: A 30-Year Review of Failures in Italy Alessandro Scala a , Lorenzo Brezzi a, *, Laura Niero a , Fabiola Gibin a , Nicola Fabbian a ,

Carlo Pellegrino a , Paolo Simonini a , Paolo Zampieri a a University of Padova, ICEA Department, via Marzolo 9, 35131, Padova, Italy

© 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 Keywords: Bridge Failures; Climate Change; Italian Database; Smart Infrastructure Management; Statistical Analysis; Extreme Events. Abstract Bridges and viaducts are critical components of transportation networks, ensuring not only territorial continuity, but also economic development and emergency accessibility. Their proper functioning is therefore crucial for the resilience and safety of entire regions. Unfortunately, structural damage to these structures is not uncommon, and in some cases, such failures have involved road users and resulted in casualties. Among the most frequent causes are anthropogenic factors such as negligence or accidental impacts. However, a concerning proportion of cases is related to natural events, particularly floods and landslides. In recent years, the growing frequency of extreme natural rainfall events, triggering floods, landslides, and other hydrogeological hazards, has revealed new vulnerabilities in infrastructure systems. Many of these phenomena are consistent with climate-driven scenarios, which has increased the unpredictability and intensity of environmental stressors. These hazards can compromise the structural integrity of a bridge either through direct mechanical impact or by altering the surrounding terrain, activating failure mechanisms that are not always accounted for in traditional maintenance or design frameworks. This study presents some results from a database of bridge failures of varying severity that occurred in Italy over the last 30 years, with particular attention to those coinciding with extreme weather events. This study focuses on bridge distress associated with climate-related events, investigated through a systematic review of publicly available sources. The results underscore the importance of incorporating environmental hazard factors into prioritization and risk mitigation strategies for transport infrastructure.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-049-827-7992. E-mail address: lorenzo.brezzi@unipd.it

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.2026.06.064