In Japan the stock of bridges has been accumulating for more than a hundred years and is now causing issues on bridge management. The number of bridges with historical and cultural values will make us confront maintenance issues that require a different approach from usual structures. On the other hand, the social demand for conservation of engineering heritage has been gradually rising and historical aspects have been recognized as a new function of civil engineering structures. Conservation of historical bridges should ideally keep their original appearance, structural details and materials to maintain the historical value as well as safety, durability and utility. What makes a difference between historical civil engineering structures such as bridges and cultural assets in museum is their practical role for people in everyday life. For bridges with historical values changes of structures should be accepted under certain rules and procedures based on objective evaluation of historical values. This paper describes a study on rehabilitation of steel bridges with historical values to develop the most preferable way to maintain historical and cultural values as well as the fundamental function of the structures. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E214938.
Abstract