2026 Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 19-28
Many bridges in Japan, built during the period of high economic growth, are rapidly aging, posing a significant maintenance challenge for local governments. Bridge deterioration is a complex issue influenced by multiple factors, which makes it difficult to implement preventative maintenance and prioritize inspections. Based on prior research indicating that the influence of traffic volume may not be observed under low annual minimum temperature conditions, this study analyzed the impact of annual minimum temperature on the relationship between the Bridge Health Index (BHI) and daily traffic volume using data from 516 concrete road bridges nationwide. As a result, the dominance of traffic volume over the deterioration of bridge health is lost when the annual minimum temperature is below -5 °C, whereas in the temperature range from -5 °C to -2 °C, this dominance increases linearly with rising temperature. These insights provide a method to estimate bridge health from a combination of meteorological and traffic conditions, thereby demonstrating the potential to contribute to the efficient evaluation and management of deterioration risks.
