A Fuzzy Evaluation Approach for Bridge Based on Domain Knowledge

Bridge condition assessment is usually conducted by bridge inspectors on the basis of visual inspections. This inevitably involves human being’s subjective judgments and uncertainties. This paper presents a novel approach for developing a performance evaluation system for existing bridges. The system evaluates the performance of bridges under deterioration on the basis of domain knowledge. Characteristic features of this study are the determination of weight based on domain knowledge. A hypothetical case shows that the proposed evaluation approach offers a flexible and effective way of rating bridge conditions.