Management of road bridge networks in Italy by means of integrated SHM systems

Management of stocks with large number of bridges is a relevant issue for the Italian roadway system. In the last years the use of integrated SHM (Structural Health Monitoring) systems is being introduced within the framework of the modern BMS (Bridge Management Systems) with the aim of implementing a continuous damage identification strategy. In this framework, ambient vibration-based SHM has received most attention owing to its minimal intrusiveness, non-destructive character and global damage identification capabilities. A lot of research effort has been devoted in the last years to SHM techniques but ease of use, interpretability and minimal intervention of expert judgement are essential issues for the fruitful application of SHM in real and wide bridge networks. ANAS S.p.A., the main road managing Authority in Italy, is implementing a huge monitoring program on its bridge network with the main purpose of addressing the recent indications of the Italian guidelines for assessing and monitoring of bridges, and the University of Padova, together with the University of Perugia, Politecnico of Milan, University of Pisa and the other Universities of FABRE Consortium are supporting ANAS for the real application of modern SHM techniques. According to these actual needs, a new software suite called P3P has been developed and is being applied to a huge stock of bridges distributed in all the Italian territory.