A risk-based taxonomy for bridges at risk of flooding

Bridges are crucial points of connection in the transport system, underpinning economic vitality, social well-being and logistics of modern communities. Bridges have also strategic relevance, since they support access to emergency services (e.g. hospitals) and utilities (e.g. water supply). Bridges are mostly exposed to natural hazards, in particular riverine bridges to flooding, and disruption could lead to widespread negative effects. Therefore, protecting bridges enhances the resilience of cities and communities. Currently, most of the countries are not able to identify bridges at higher risk of failure, due to the unavailability of high-quality data, the mixed ownership of the assets or the lack of risk-based assessment approaches. Moreover, current datasets are not accommodating new data deriving from monitoring systems and other technologies. This paper introduces a risk-based approach to bridge management, alongside a preliminary protocolled taxonomy for data collection of bridges.