Computerized Database for Maintenance and Management of Highway Bridges in Vietnam

The deterioration of physical and serviceable conditions of highway bridges in Vietnam increasingly have become major social and technical concerns. Moreover, the maintenance management system applied currently is considered outdated and not satisfying the actual traffic and social demands imposed on highway bridges. This paper is an attempt to develop an advanced maintenance management system (V-BMS) concurrently with a computerized database for highway bridges in Vietnam. The current status of existing bridges is first reviewed in terms of the physical condition and the maintenance management practice in order to identify outstanding problems. Several advanced techniques have been, therefore, introduced into the V-BMS to manage and maintain highway bridges in the most suitable manner. Furthermore, practical application in a direct-maintenance agency is presented as an example to demonstrate the validity of the database. In order to be successful, the paper recommends fully testing the system on various actual conditions of Vietnam, so necessary modification can be made.