All the bridges older than 40 years should be consolidated

In Romania, the occurrence of unforeseen problems in infrastructure projects became an unpleasant habit. Prof. Dr. Eng. Florian Burtescu, head of the Department of Bridges of the Faculty of Railways, Roads and Bridges of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest was criticized recently in his quality as designer of the road passage Pipera-Tunari over rail. He explained the problems encountered in carrying out this project and drew attention to the urgent need for interventions to most road works in Romania.

RBT: Two years ago you have warned about the degree of safety of bridges in Bucharest, due to the use of poor quality materials and poor maintenance. Is it only the Capital or one can generalize this judgement for other infrastructure works in the country?

Florian Burtescu: It’s not only about the bridges in Bucharest. Before 1989, many bridges were built throughout the country, and their maintenance has been poor due to a lack of funds. Under the construction standards, which many forget, the life expectancy for the infrastructure works like bridges is of 100 years. And then, measures are taken to ensure this sustainability.

Nowadays, the foundations of new bridges are safer, and in case of floods they face fewer problems. Also, the quality of protection materials is better, and they are more expensive but safer.

There are many old infrastructure works that do not meet current loading rules, and those should be resized, revised, consolidated. In fact, as the design rules are in continuous progress, all the bridges that have been built so far should be consolidated. But the costs are too high because from the start they should use high quality and very durable materials, to avoid making interventions in short periods of time.