Life Cycle Cost Management Strategy on Corrosion Deterioration and Fatigue Damage of Steel Girder Bridge

This paper proposes a life-cycle cost (LCC) management methodology that integrates corrosion deterioration and fatigue damage mechanisms. This LCC management methodology has four characterized features: (1) corrosion deterioration and fatigue damage models are used to predict the time when the pre-defined limits are reached; (2) the performance of the steel girder is measured by condition state sets in which deflection, moment and shear capacities and fatigue strength limits are considered altogether; (3) the cost-effectiveness of management strategies are measured by the performance improvement per unit of money spent; and (4) the LCC model includes initial design/construction cost, inspection cost, maintenance cost, repair/rehabilitation cost and failure cost. A steel girder bridge is used as an example to demonstrate the application of the proposed LCC management methodology.