Abstract Summary
This study summarizes the experimental and computational studies carried out for the robust-ness assessment of steel riveted bridges based on truss-type structures. This paper describes a unique case of a 21 m full-scale bridge span tested under laboratory conditions with an exten-sive monitoring system to evaluate structural behavior and robustness as damage progressed in its elements after the removal of up to two diagonals. A computational analysis was also per-formed to examine other possible damages not included in the experiment, such as the sudden loss of the bottom or top chords, columns, or beams. This paper also presents the preliminary findings and approaches that are being developed as part of an ongoing project, which aims to anticipate failure propagation in this type of bridge by using robustness analysis methods, SHM of real structures and Artificial Intelligence. The recommendations already extracted from the study are currently being applied in three similar bridge case studies and will also be employed in the future to predict the collapse of bridges prior to the catastrophic event.
