Usually the status of a bridge is determined by its structural capability and material strength. Consequently a lot of researchers have studied the failure, the fatigue, and the deterioration of the structure in terms of the structural function of a bridge. However, the overall performance of a bridge may be affected simply by the damage of one of its components. Therefore this study utilized a systematic classification and statistical analysis based on the existing bridge inspection data collected in Taiwan to reach the following goals: (1) assess the performance distribution and deterioration rate for bearing and expansion joint of bridge; (2) find out the right time to do the preventive and essential maintenance for the component of bridge with an empirical method, and to decide what time and which component of a bridge will receive preventive maintenance or regular maintenance.
The authors would like to acknowledge the National Science Council (NSC) of Taiwan, R.O.C for financially supporting this work under contract number NSC-94-2211-E-002-064. We also wish to express our appreciation to the officials of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (MOCT) of the Taiwan government for providing the valuable data on the Bridge Management System for these four counties.