An investigation of the relationships between inventory and inspection data of RC bridges and RC culverts in the Western Cape Province

Bridges and Culverts form critical links within transportation networks. They are costly long term infrastructure investments and are essential to a country’s economic functioning and society’s everyday lives. They are prone to deterioration due to unfavourable chemical, mechanical and physical consequences. Nonetheless, they are expected to remain safe and functional for the duration of their design life; thus Bridge Management Systems (BMSs) have been fundamental to maintaining and preserving these. However, the data contained in BMSs have mainly been used for structural prioritization. Hence, the purpose of this study was to utilize the Struman Bridge Management System database to investigate the relationships that exist between the inventory and inspection data of the Reinforced Concrete (RC) bridges and culverts within the Western Cape Province. The study involved conducting data mining activities to simplify the data and extract useful information. These activities encompassed investigating structural defects, their predominance and spatial distributions (in terms of district municipalities) as well as their relationships with inventory data such as structure type, age and span length/width. STATA 2011 logit models were used to investigate whether the relationships were statistically significant and to determine odds ratios of several ’events’. In addition to this, the average Condition Indices (CIs), numerical ratings based on the network structures conditions and integrity, were also investigated to assess the condition of the structures relative to the inventory data.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Civil Engineering

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Mbanjwa, Thuthukile

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Moyo, Pilate

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13306

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13306