PSI - Issue 84

Marco Nale et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 329–336

336

4. Conclusion This study analysed the interdependence between bridges and hydraulic infrastructure in the Ferrara area, with particular attention to the possible failure modes of bridge components and their effects on the overall functioning of the hydraulic system. Through systematic inspections and a qualitative analysis of failure modes and their effects, the main structural defects, such as reinforcement corrosion, loss of tension in post-tensioned tendons in RC decks, cracking, mechanical blockage of moving bridges, and debris accumulation, were identified and classified according to their potential impact on hydraulic infrastructure functionality. Specifically, the collapse of a gate can trigger catastrophic downstream flooding, while an electrical failure disabling the control station leads to a complete loss of operational command. Furthermore, serious damage to the service bridge, by preventing physical access to the station, impedes water level regulation (the opening and closing of gates). Immediate restoration is mandatory to prevent incalculable disasters across the entire adjacent area. These findings highlight how even partial failures can significantly compromise the operation of floodgates and canals, increasing the hydraulic risk upstream and reducing flood attenuation capacity. This underscores the importance of monitoring and maintenance programs targeting the most critical components in order to increase the resilience and operational safety of infrastructure. Future developments will aim to extend the approach by applying the Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) methodology (NASA,1966), enabling quantitative risk prioritization and providing a robust decision-making tool for infrastructure management. Overall, the proposed methodology provides a systematic, risk based framework for the assessment and maintenance of bridges integrated into hydraulic networks, helping to improve safety and resilience in multi-hazard scenarios. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Regional Agency of Civil Protection of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy, for supporting this research. References Brath, A., Casagli, N., Marani, M., Mercogliano, P., Motta, R., 2023. Rapporto della Commissione tecnico-scientifica istituita con deliberazione della Giunta Regionale n. 984/2023 e determinazione dirigenziale 14641/2023, al fine di analizzare gli eventi meteorologici estremi del mese di maggio 2023. Regione Emilia Romagna (in Italian) Cho, E., Ahmadisharaf, E., Villarini, G., AghaKouchak, A., 2025. Historical changes in overtopping probability of dams in the United States. Nature communications, 16(1), 6693. D’Amato, M., Ranaldo, A., Rosciano, M., Zona, A., Morici, M., Gioiella, L., ... , Dall’Asta, A., 2025. The Development and Statistical Analysis of a Material Strength Database of Existing Italian Prestressed Concrete Bridges. Infrastructures, 10(8), 203. Domeneghetti, A., Carisi, F., Castellarin, A., Brath, A., 2015. Evolution of flood risk over large areas: Quantitative assessment for the Po river. Journal of Hydrology, 527, 809-823. Fluixá-Sanmartín, J., Altarejos-García, L., Morales-Torres, A., Escuder-Bueno, I., 2018. Climate change impacts on dam safety. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 18(9), 2471-2488. Masi, A., Santarsiero, G., Savoia, M., Cardillo, E., Belletti, B., Macaluso, R., ... Limongelli, M. P., 2025. Development of a Large Database of Italian Bridge Bearings: Preliminary Analysis of Collected Data and Typical Defects. Infrastructures, 10(3). Mikulak, R. J., McDermott, R., Beauregard, M. (2017). The basics of FMEA. CRC Press. Minghini, F., Accolli, M., Fabbri, A., Nale, M., Ranzati, A., 2024. Parametric analysis of corrosion effects on strength of RC decks with post tensioned tendons. Procedia Structural Integrity, 62, 331-338. MIT—Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. Ministerial Decree, no. 578 of 17.12.2020. In Guidelines for Risk Classification and Management, Safety Assessment and Monitoring of Existing Bridges; last update MD no. 204 of 1 July 2022; Ministry of Infrastructure: Rome, Italy. (In Italian) MLLPP— Ministry of Public Works. Regio Decreto, no. 523 of 25.07.1904. In Testo unico delle disposizioni di legge intorno alle opere idrauliche delle diverse categorie. Rome, Italy. (In Italian) Nale, M., Accolli, M., Minghini, F., 2025. Post-earthquake functionality assessment protocol for hydraulic infrastructure in lowland areas. Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 1-27 Nale, M., Chiozzi, A., Tralli, A., 2019. Stochastic Seismic Assessment of Bridge Networks by Matrix Based System Reliability Method, in “Conference of the Italian Association of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics” (pp. 1559-1566). Springer International Publishing.