Modeling of post‐construction failure factors of bridges

Purpose – The failure of a bridge is a complex phenomenon due to the involvement of a large number of factors. Bridge failure cannot be attributed to a single cause due to the intricacies involved in the relationship among the factors causing failure. The aim of this paper is to identify the various factors causing bridge failure and show an interdependence/relationship among them. Design/methodology/approach – Interpretive structural modeling (ISM), which is a tool of structural analysis for interactive learning, has been used to develop a hierarchical structure of the phenomenon of bridge failure showing the interrelationship of the causative factors. Impact Matrix Cross Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification (MICMAC) tool has been used to quantify and classify the factors for bridge failure on the basis of their influence and dependence. Findings – In total, 14 factors, which may contribute to the failure of a bridge, have been identified through the literature survey and interaction with bridge experts. Even though all the 14 factors are important, the authors have found that the environmental factor has the maximum influence, while the age factor is the most dependent of all factors. Research limitations/implications – The proposed research utilizes the ISM and MICMAC tools and thus has all the limitations of structural modeling. The application of structural equation modeling in the civil engineering field is limited, but it is hoped that a similar approach can be applied in other areas of engineering. Originality/value – The factors causing bridge failure have been identified and hierarchical interdependence model has been arrived at by using ISM. On the basis of MICMAC analysis, the factors have also been classified into three categories, namely, influent, autonomous and dependent. The study reaffirms the importance of all factors in the overall performance of a bridge.