Bridge Maintenance

What are the main causes of bridge disasters? As a rule, we can find in the list such remarks as "collapsed during construction" or "error in construction". Thanks God that such bridges didn't cause death of citizens. In other words, most bridges with such characteristics were destroyed even before the full construction itself.

The other thing is when such collapses may do harm and lead to grave consequences for usual people. Such things may be caused by error in construction as well as by not appropriate bridge maintenance. In other words, it is not enough to erect a bridge and forget about the things which are necessary for making it durable and reliable. It can be asserted that bridges are just like live organisms. And the most important thing is that they "live" outside and come under influence of nature.

Thus, bridge maintenance is necessary not only in cases when there is a danger of flooding or soil erosion beneath footings, but also just in order to make these grandiose constructions more reliable. So, poor bridge maintenance and inspection may lead to irretrievable consequences, as it was with West Gate Bridge in Australia, Schoharie Creek Thruway Bridge in the US or Seongsu Bridge in South Korea.