1.0.1 This code is formulated with view to strengthening maintenance management of highway bridges and culverts, keeping the bridges and culverts under normal service condition, and ensuring traffic flow smooth and safe.
1.0.2 This code is applicable to maintenance of bridges and culverts in national highway, provincial highway and county highway, and applies to maintenance of bridges and culverts in other highways by reference. Special maintenance and management regulations may be formulated for the special bridges in the principle of this code and according to different conditions and requirements.
1.0.3 Main content and basic requirements of maintenance of highway bridges and culverts:
1 Inspection and evaluation system for highway bridges and culverts shall be established and improved. Periodic inspection shall be carried out for the structure of highway bridges and culverts to systematically grasp the technical conditions and timely find defects and relevant environment changes. Technical conditions of bridges shall be classified and evaluated and corresponding maintenance solutions shall be established according to the inspection results of bridges.
2 Highway bridge management system and highway bridge database shall be set up for monitoring defects of bridges and culverts and making scientific decisions. Grand bridge load alarm system and prevention decision making system for earthquake, flood and floating ice shall be established gradually.
3 Maintenance of highway bridges and culverts shall be such that: tidy appearances of bridges and culverts; solid and flat bridge deck pavement; proper cross slope; smooth and proper connection of bridge head; smooth drainage; structure in good condition; complete and intact auxiliary facilities, e.g. sign, mark and marking.
4 As for maintenance of bridge/culvert structures, first the existing structures shall be maintained to meet the bearing requirements at designed load class and the traffic requirements at design traffic volume. Bearing capacity and traffic capacity may be improved by reconstruction and renovation in accordance with the requirements of traffic development.
Attention shall be paid to the relationship between the new and existing structures to give full play to the actions of existing structures when determining the reconstruction or renovation scheme.
5 Attention shall be paid to guarantee the safe passage of rolling stock and pedestrians as well as environmental protection in maintenance work and engineering implementation.
6 As for maintenance of bridge/culvert structure, there shall be protective measures against such disasters as flood, floating ice, debris flow and earthquake as well as emergency traffic scheme.
7 Hand-over and maintenance of new or renovated bridge shall have complete handover procedures, for which complete technical data shall be provided. Grand bridge and long bridge shall be equipped with maintenance facilities and equipment, for which maintenance passage, escalator, suspender and platform shall be arranged, and the design organization shall provide key points and requirements of maintenance technologies. Maintenance facilities and equipment shall be added according to the actual demand if they are absent or deficient.
8 Bridge/culvert structure inspection and technical condition evaluation, maintenance solution, maintenance, strengthening, final acceptance of renovation and other related technical documents shall be incorporated into bridge maintenance technology archives and database in standard format.
1.0.4 Maintenance of highway bridges and culverts shall comply with the following technical policies:
1 Maintenance of highway bridges and culverts, in the principle of "prevention first and combining prevention with control", emphasizes the load-bearing components, taking maintenance of bridge deck as its center, which shall be strengthened fully and carried out comprehensively.
2 Advanced maintenance technologies and scientific management methods shall be popularized and applied, so as to improve maintenance production means, upgrade maintenance technology level, and vigorously promote and develop maintenance machinery of highway bridges and culverts.
