Regional facility
Regional bridge and road authorities responsible for the maintenance of their components and road infrastructure, as well as regional road operators, will benefit from the development of methodological templates and user manuals for the assessment of structures based on reliability methods, taking deterioration processes into account, through close cooperation with engineers and technicians in the provision of planning and engineering services in the design of new and rehabilitation of existing bridge structures and road engineering structures.
National institution
National authorities are also important operators and managers of road and rail infrastructure in the Czech Republic and Austria; they manage thousands of bridges. Almost half of the bridge structures are nearing the end of their technical lifetime. Methods for assessing existing bridge structures with regard to their remaining service life are only partially implemented in the sectoral guidelines; the practical, routine application of these methods for assessing existing Bridge structures are therefore somewhat limited in design practice.
The development of methodological guidelines, manuals and Solution examples for concrete case studies in order to clearly explain and effectively use the latest scientific findings in the field of reliability, material deterioration and the service life of structures is therefore of great benefit for decision-making and also for the associated standardization.
University and Research institutions
The results of the project in the form of educational events and mobility of students of doctoral programs within the partner organizations will be very useful for raising the level of education in the field of advanced assessment of load-bearing structures, determining their reliability and durability.
In connection with the preparation of the second generation of Eurocodes and their beginning national implementation, the development of teaching materials, methodological guides, manuals and software applications to explain the latest scientific knowledge in the field of reliability, material deterioration and the service life of structures will be of great benefit both in the field of research and in the field of corresponding standardization.
Cross-border cooperation will enable an effective exchange of experience in solving important problems in the field of reliability assessment of structures and the application of the results at interregional and international levels.
SMEs
The project is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in design and engineering activities in the field of transport structures, the rehabilitation and construction of transport infrastructure, and safety audits of road structures. In the course of their activities, these companies often face the problem of unclear definitions of the required reliability level of existing bridge structures with regard to their remaining service life.
The planned development of supporting software, manuals, and technical guidelines for the reliability analysis of structures and for the assessment of existing structures with regard to their remaining service life, taking into account ongoing degradation processes, and the introduction of semi-probabilistic methods for the remaining service life, therefore represent a significant shift for these companies in the direct application of reliability methods to the actual design and assessment process of transport infrastructure structures.