Bridge/Culvert Servicing Manual
Servicing, or Routine Maintenance, is the recurrent day-to-day, periodic, or scheduled work that is required to preserve or restore a bridge or culvert so that it can be effectively utilised as intended. It includes work to prevent damage or deterioration of a bridge or culvert that would otherwise be more costly to restore, and if left unchecked would eventually progress to structural damage. The concept of servicing involves the repair of small or potential problems in a timely manner so that they will not develop into expensive bridge replacements, and as such is an important aspect of bridge maintenance.
Servicing works fall into two categories:
Preventative Maintenance
Reactive Maintenance.
Preventative Maintenance consists of the systematic servicing of a structure on a scheduled basis, the frequency of which varies depending on:
the type of work or activity being undertaken
environmental considerations (i.e. steel girders subject to saltwater)
material type
construction type
age of the structure
volume of general traffic / heavy vehicles using the structure.
Reactive Maintenance is performed when the need for maintenance is deemed necessary to prevent further deterioration or development of defects. The need for this type of maintenance is normally identified during inspections or in the course of carrying out preventative maintenance.
Full copy of the Bridge/Culvert Servicing Manual (PDF, 684 KB)
