PSI - Issue 84

Federica Di Criscio et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 1023–1030

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4. Conclusions This study presented a simplified - yet mechanically-based - approach for the predictive assessment of the service life of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete bridges subjected to corrosion. By correlating defect indices from visual inspection with the time-dependent deterioration of materials’ mechanical properties, the proposed methodology provides an effective operational tool for evaluating the residual capacity of existing infrastructure. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated through an illustrative application to a case-study archetype bridge. Results highlighted that: (i) the location of corrosion significantly affects performance degradation; (ii) corrosion at the base of the pier leads to an early but gradual decline in capacity, whereas corrosion in higher sections results in a later but more abrupt reduction in safety, associated with low-ductility collapse mechanisms; (iii) degradation of prestressed strands can represent the critical safety limit of the deck, necessitating prioritized intervention. Overall, the proposed framework can represent a valuable decision-support tool for prioritizing maintenance actions, defining the required level of assessment detail, and enhancing the long-term safety and resilience of bridge networks. Future developments may consider probabilistic approaches to explicitly account for multiple sources of uncertainty. Acknowledgements This research is supported by the PNRR funding scheme as part of the RETURN project, Spoke 6 – TS2: Multi-Risk Resilience of Critical Infrastructures. The authors acknowledge the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) for funding the Doctoral Scholarship of Federica Di Criscio. Livio Pedone received funding (RTD-A) from the project “Centro di ricerca per l'innovazione sull'economia circolare e sulla salute” (CUP: J83C22000970001). References Alonso, C., Andrade, C., Rodriguez, J., & Diez, JM. (1998). Factors controlling cracking of concrete affected by reinforcement corrosion. Materials and Structures , 31 , 435–441. Anaya, P., Martin-Pérez, B., Rodriguez, J., & Andrade, C. (2022). Transfer length of corroded wires in prestressed concrete members. Structural Concrete , 23 (1), 147–171. Coronelli, D., & Gambarova, P. (2004). Structural Assessment of corroded reinforced concrete beams. Structural Engineering , 130 (8). Cui, F., Zhang, H., Ghosn, M., & Xu, Y. (2018). Seismic fragility analysis of deteriorating RC bridge substructures subject to marine chloride induced corrosion. Engineering Structures , 155 , 61–72. 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