Practical Applications of Life-Cycle Considerations in Sustainable Development of Infrastructure

Infrastructure systems are subjected to progressive and/or sudden performance deterioration throughout their service life. This deterioration may start from the day the structure enters into service and, if not effectively managed, can cause a significant reduction in the structural functionality and safety. Over the last decades, research efforts have shown that life-cycle management techniques can be successfully used to manage such deteriorating systems. In these techniques, various modules are integrated to form a comprehensive framework responsible for the assessment of the life-cycle performance, analysis of system and component performance interaction, management activities (e.g., inspections, monitoring, and maintenance) optimization, and updating the life-cycle performance based on information obtained from structural health monitoring and/or controlled testing. Nowadays, aspects regarding the evaluation of the time-variant performance are gaining increasing attention in the design, assessment, and management of infrastructure. A special consideration is given to performance measures which cover sustainability aspects. Accordingly, there exists a need for well-established methods which can quantify the metrics of sustainability and allow their integration into the life-cycle management process. The aim of this paper is to highlight the role of life-cycle management concepts and methodologies in the sustainable development of infrastructure systems. The goals and benefits of such management concepts are discussed and their recent applications to bridge structures are presented.