A study on the development and utilization of a 3D bridge database

Abstract

Effective bridge management has become increasingly important in Japan due to aging infrastructure and a shortage of inspection engineers. Although periodic bridge inspections were mandated following the revision of the Road Act in 2014, challenges remain in managing and utilizing inspection data. Conven-tional inspection records based on text and two-dimensional photographs make it difficult to intuitively understand bridge conditions and hinder centralized data management. To address these issues, this study develops a virtual reality (VR)-based bridge inspection database system that integrates three-dimensional (3D) bridge models with inspection data. The proposed system enables intuitive visualization of damage information and efficient data management. A real bridge was used as a case study to demonstrate the system’s potential to improve inspection efficiency and facilitate information sharing among stakeholders.