PolyStructure. Using an innovative combination of next generation data science and sensors to better inform inspection regimes of transport infrastructure, focusing on bridges

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The bridges in our transport network were never designed for the giant 44 tonne lorries that now cross them regularly.As a result, in some UK counties more than 30 percent of bridges are considered not safe to use. The backlog of bridge inspections is reported by the RAC Foundation to be substantial and their study reveals that the one-time cost to clear the full maintenance backlog on the 70,944 bridges in the UK would be £5.44 billion. Local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales identified 3,211 bridges -- defined by highway engineers as structures over 1.5m in span -- as being substandard at the end of 2021\.The PolyStructure project will deliver an innovative decision-making tool for the inspection, maintenance and safety management of infrastructure, focusing initially on bridges. Importantly, this tool will be simple, scalable, low-cost and generalisable.By combining advanced statistical techniques with physical modelling of fault evolution, PolyStructure will deliver quantitative information about the predicted remaining lifetime of bridges in the UK & Singapore using data from bridge-mounted sensors. This information will be used to provide engineering advice based on confidence levels rather than subjective judgement, representing a step-change from standard industry practice in the field of asset management. It will supply the Operator of the infrastructure with quantitative grounds for the ranking of maintenance strategies and the optimisation of resource allocation. For example, priority can be given where risk is highest, or to maintenance policies resulting in the most substantial risk reduction, or to the decommissioning strategies resulting in the largest reduction in insurance costs (while complying at all times with regulatory requirements).PolyChord Ltd brings decades of experience in Bayesian statistics along with next-generation sampling methods to the project, and will build on Accupredict's extensive experience in low-cost sensors and physical modelling for predictive maintenance in order to deliver this powerful tool. Once this prototyping project has been completed, the PolyStructure sensor and analysis tool can be commercialised. The analysis tool can also be extended to exploit data from other existing sensors mounted on other vital structures to make better judgements about their safety and when they should be inspected.