The basis for decisions on the maintenance and management of bridges are reports on the main visual inspection, which are carried out regularly every six years. However, some damage in early phase and/or internal structural defects cannot be detected by a visual inspection but require additional testing and monitoring of the structural condition. This is particularly important if we want to intervene in the early stages of damage and prevent accelerated deterioration of the structure in the future. Only in this way we can achieve optimal maintenance of the bridge, with the aim of reducing maintenance costs and extending service life of the structure. In this paper, impact of non-destructive testing, laboratory testing on taken samples and structural health monitoring on bridge assessment will be discussed using a case study. As a case study Maslenica Motorway Bridge is chosen as a bridge of significant importance in multi-hazard environment. The applied new approach to bridge assessment focuses on five groups of key performance indicators, one of which is presented in detail: Safety, reliability and security. The results, based on visual inspection, non-destructive testing, destructive testing and laboratory testing, structural health monitoring and design, and numerical analysis, are presented and evaluated. The impact of each method in determining each performance indicator and the final KPI rate is identified.

bridge, non-destructive testing, laboratory testing, assessment, visual inspection, durability, performance indicators