Life cycle analysis of steel railway bridges

This paper focuses on the growth of cracks that arise from natural corrosion in steel bridges. It is shown that these two effects of corrosion and stress, need to be simultaneously analysed. A methodology used to compute the growth of such cracks in bridge steels is presented. A better understanding of the remaining life of steel bridges would help establish an assessment procedure and guide engineers when deciding between reinforcement and replacement. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.