Application of a Simplified Load Rating Method for Scoring Existing Bridges: A Territorial Case Study in Basilicata

In the scientific community there is an increasing attention to existing bridges. They usually suffer a marked structural deterioration due to a lack of maintenance although they belong to infrastructures serving an important amount of traffic. Therefore, there is the need of quickly evaluating the current state of these structures with the aim of promptly expressing a judgment about their usability. In this paper, the results of a fast appraisal method applied to a territorial case study are illustrated and commented in order to define a list of priority and the related additional investigations, including in situ tests and numerical analyses with more refined models. The paper concludes highlighting the importance of applying this decision tool in order to manage huge and important road infrastructures in conjunction with the interested traffic, and to plan more refined investigations within a multi-level evaluation framework.