Development of a Bridge Management System (BMS) Based on the New Guidelines of the Italian Ministry of Transport

Among all components of the road network, the most vulnerable are connected elements such as bridges, viaducts and tunnels. All public or private entities dealing with infrastructures need a management system. A Bridge Management System (BMS) is an informative tool for storing, analyzing and managing data on the bridge status and organizing inspection and maintenance activities. It can include deterioration models and cost and optimization analysis tools. In Europe, the first Bridge Management System was the BRIME project, developed in the early 2000s. BRIME’s main purposes were to create a unique standard for the European area and monitoring the most important bridges. Worldwide BMS research began in the 1990s. Due to certain dramatic events in the last few years, like the collapse of Morandi’s Bridge (GE, Italy), the Italian Ministry of Transport published new guidelines in 2020. This work explains the method used to create a Bridge Management System, based on these Guidelines, and used to plan maintenance activities for the bridges owned by the Administration of the Noncello territory, in northeastern Italy.