Proposed Maintenance Strategies for Highway Concrete Bridges in Vietnam

Abstract

This paper reports on the investigation conducted on the existing bridges in Vietnam. The evaluation approach included visual inspections and non-destructive tests of concrete structures, personal interviews of site engineers in the field, and reviews of available publications from public media and literature. The diagnostic confirmed that the concrete was of low quality and showed many shortcomings such as failure, damage, local defects and premature aging. A series of diversified maintenance strategies is proposed to focus on both tactical and strategic levels. It is necessary to rectify current problems of concrete structures, to prevent the such collapse in future, and to enhance physical and serviceable conditions of the existing bridges in Vietnam.