Transgressing from bridge management to bridge resilience: Critical imperativeness, necessity and impact on bridges

This paper examines the transition from conventional Bridge Management Systems (BMS) to a resilience-oriented approach through the proposed Bridge Resilience System (BRS). It argues that condition alone cannot fully represent future hazard performance or the consequences of bridge disruption and that bridge management should move from managing bridge condition to managing bridge risk, continuity of service, and long-term infrastructure resilience. The paper presents BRS as an integrated framework combining structural condition, deterioration, multi-hazard exposure, vulnerability, functional importance, socio-economic consequences, network effects, lifecycle cost, and intervention planning. A pilot assessment in Kolhapur District was used to demonstrate the approach, considering flooding, landslides, earthquakes, and indirect cyclone effects. 

The findings indicate that bridge risk and intervention priority should not be determined from structural condition alone. Flooding emerged as the dominant recurring hazard in the pilot district, while landslides and seismic exposure contributed additional vulnerability. Several bridges were classified as high risk because hazard exposure, advanced deterioration, and functional importance occurred together. The long-term objective is to identify unacceptable risk early, protect essential connectivity, optimize limited resources, strengthen vulnerable bridges, prepare for disruption, and improve recovery.