In-Service Inspection Frequency for Non-Load-Path Redundant Bridges

It is well recognized that the major impact on life-cycle costs is the additional mandate for hands-on in-service inspection of fracture-critical members. In fact for some owners, fracture-critical inspections consume a large fraction of the available inspection budget for a comparatively few structures. The cost of the fracture-critical inspection is typically 2 to 5 times greater than inspections for bridges without any FCMs.