The Value of Structural Health Monitoring for the

reliable Bridge Management

Zagreb 2-3 March 2017

A General Overview on the Physical Condition of Albanian Bridges

Erion Periku1, Erion Luga2, Yavuz Yardim3
1,2
Epoka University, Rr. Tiranë-Rinas, Km. 12, 1039 Tirana, Albania,
3
University of Nizwa, P.O. Box 33, PC 616, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman
E-mails: 1eperiku@epoka.edu.al; 2eluga@epoka.edu.al; 3yavuz@unizwa.edu.om

Abstract. Road bridges represent a large financial investment and provide an essential service to the community
and economy of a country. Being such important structures, they are regularly inspected, monitored and assessed.
Inspections are required to ensure that bridges serve efficiently and that maintenance costs are kept within the
estimated budget during the structure’s specified life. Concrete bridges in Albania have been constructed with
different standards, in different periods and exposed to traffic loads which have rapidly increased during the last
two decades. Additionally, the existing condition of these bridges has not been clearly defined yet. Therefore, an
attempt was made in this study to draw a general picture of the condition of Albanian bridges, based on the visual
inspection of 104 bridges with a total length of 7271.6 m, along 263 km road in different parts of the country. The
selected bridges pertain to the road network with the heaviest traffic volume within the country. This network also
contains bridges constructed in all the various construction time periods of Albania. The investigations
demonstrated that the general physical state of the bridges is poor; therefore, the service provided by the bridges
poses potential dangers.

Keywords: Albanian bridges, Visual inspection. Reinforced concrete, Physical condition

1 Introduction
Bridges are the most delicate and critical sections of road networks. Maintaining the integrity of a bridge structure
is an increasing problem, particularly when any bridge ages. The collapse of the Silver Bridge in the US on
December 15, 1957, resulted in the death of 46 people. This tragic collapse led to the development of bridge
inspection standards in USA (Chen & Duan, 2003; Bridge Inspection Manual, 2010). Today, advanced bridge
management programs are widely used to ensure that the service provided by bridges remains efficient throughout
the specified service life of these structures (Waher, 1999). The management systems are specified on different
types of inspection to identify distress and its causes in periodic time frame BS 5400 (BS 5400-4, 1990). The
British Standard for design and construction of steel, concrete and composite bridges emphasizes that bridges
require regular inspection under competent direction.
Over the past decades, many new bridges and roads have been built in Albania. The construction of these bridges
and roads was done in different time periods, which were characterized from different types of construction codes.
The construction of bridges in modern history of Albania has initially started with engineering intuition and
knowledge; afterwards the Soviet Union standard and later the Albanian Standard and Code (KTP 23-78) were
implemented. In the past two decades, the United States Standards (AASHTO), the British Standard (BS), and the
European Norms (EN), have been used in bridge construction.
Albanian national ways have 562 bridges, running a total length of 19.295m over the entire country (Albanian
Bridges, 2010). Most of these bridges have been in use for traffic for more than 35 years. During this long-term
period there have been no regular inspections on these structures.
Nowadays different countries use different bridge management programs (REAM, 2003; Wan et al., 2010;
Thompson et al., 1998; Hawk & Small, 1998; Chassiakos et al., 2005; Gurevich & Vlahos, 1999; Jaafar et al.,
2003). The first bridge management system used in Albania was “Bridge Management Expert” (BMX) version
4.0 in 2010 (Albanian Bridges, 2010). This program includes an inventory system, an inspection system, and a
data management system to record inspections’ findings as well as maintenance recommendation. Three trained
engineers performed conditional inspections of the 562 Albanian bridges within a year, which was part of a
European Union funding project. Although it was the first inventory and inspection work in the country, the final
report did not provide details on the level and condition of deteriorations in these structures.
This study is an attempt to draw a general picture of the condition of Albanian bridges, based on the visual
inspection of 104 bridges with a total length of 7271.6 m; along 263 km road from different parts of the country.
The main material used in the construction of the bridges in Albania is reinforced concrete; therefore, this study is
mostly focused on reinforced concrete bridges. Bridges were selected from a road network which carries the
heaviest traffic volume within the country and represents different bridge construction time periods.

1
 A GENERAL OVERVIEW ON THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF ALBANIAN BRIDGES

2 Methodology
To carry out the objectives of the study, a suitable methodology is adopted. The framework outline of the adopted
methodology is shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. Framework Outline of the Adopted Methodology

2.1 Bridge Selection

It is recorded that Albania national ways has 562 bridges running a total length of 19295m over the entire country
(Albanian Bridges, 2010). Based on the periods shown in the previously mentioned section, a representative
network is chosen, as shown in Figure 2. The motivation regarding why this road network was chosen is presented
below:
i. It carries the heaviest traffic volume within the country.
ii. All the Albanian road types and construction periods are found on this network.
iii. The number and types of bridges found on this network are good representatives of the Albanian bridge stock.
Besides the road network shown in Figure 2, to increase the number of inspected bridges some other bridges from
different parts of the county were selected for inspection. The condition of Albanian bridges was presented in this
study based on the visual inspection of 104 bridges which cover a total length of 7271.6 m along 263 km road, in
different parts of the country. The number and the length of the inspected bridges present a large percentage of
the total bridge stock in Albania. Respectively the sample used for this study, represents 18.51% of the number
and 37.69% of the length of the entity of bridge structures in Albania.

Fig. 2. Inspected Road Network

2
 The Value of Structural Health Monitoring for the
reliable Bridge Management

Zagreb 2-3 March 2017

2.2 Collecting Administrative Data

The collection of the available data is, obviously, an important stage for the completing of the data analysis. In
compliance with the list of bridges selected for inspection, administrative data were collected. The administrative
data for these bridges were obtained either from the Central Archive of Technical Constructions of Albania or by
researching other published official documents related to Albanian bridges. These data were used to specify the
followings:
1. Name of the bridge
2. Year of construction
3. Type of the bridge
4. Material used in bridge construction
For a significant number of bridges some of the information mentioned above was not available.

2.3 Inspection Checklist

Almost every inspection manual has an inspection checklist. They are mainly similar. Yet, the inspection checklist
of this study followed the Inspection Manual for Highway Structures (Inspection Manual, 2007). The checklist is
composed of three main parts. The first part focuses on the inventory data. The second part focuses on the bridge
elements. The third part is left for the comments of the inspection engineer as well as hand drawings/sketching.

2.4 Preliminary Inspection

Fig. 3. Inspection of a Bridge Structure (Inspection Manual, 2007)

The preliminary inspection is undertaken to identify bridge structures, either registered or not by authorities. In
the preliminary inspection all road structures with a span length of more than 8m were inspected. In order to
minimize the inspection time and maximize the number of inspected elements, the route shown in Figure 3 is
followed (Inspection Manual, 2007). A database for inspected bridges was created, and, in this way, all the bridge
elements were inspected. The equipment used for preliminary inspection was:
1. Personal (safety belts, hats and shoes, vests)
2. Data recording (Inspection checklist, pens and digital camera)
3. Measuring (Laser meter, 5m tape and 50cm ruler)
4. General (Hammer and vegetation clearing tool)
For all found defects a photo and a hand sketching was done.
2.5 Detailed Inspection
The detailed inspection is the final stage of the field work. After completing the preliminary inspection, the main
types of defects and distresses where detected. Afterwards, a detailed inspection was carried out. It should be
noted that it was based on some expectations of cause and effect relation, as all defects and distresses have a chain
effect. All these chain effects, which were difficult to notice at the beginning, were part of the detailed inspection.
For example, a blocked bearing will cause extra stresses on a load carry element; as a result, cracks will appear in
the structure. Detailed inspection specified all the types of defects and distresses found on an inspected bridge
structure.

3
 A GENERAL OVERVIEW ON THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF ALBANIAN BRIDGES

3 Results and Discussions

3.1 Scouring
Among the inspected bridges, 82 pass over water environment; 22 (26.8%) of these bridges have no scour risk; 52
of them (63.5%) have low or moderate scour risk. Yet, 8 bridges or 6.7% are in high or very high risk. Most of
Albanian rivers have an aggressive flow regime. Due to this aggressive regime, they carry a lot of river material
towards the seas.
The last two decades Albania witnessed a tremendously increased demand in the construction industry. The chief
material of this industry is concrete and concrete’s main materials are aggregates and sand. Aggregates and sand
is taken from riverbeds without any criteria; moreover, most of the times working companies were not licensed.
This problem has been on focus of national newspapers and television news, but still there is no evident effort
made for the solution of this problem (Top-Cannel, 2012; Gazeta Tema, 2012). From a different perspective, the
foundation depth is insufficient in many bridges. Having pile foundation bases, almost every inspected bridge has
serious scour problems. This is viable even for bridges built in the last ten years. Among the inspected bridges, in
none of them any pile cap is buried. In order to avoid similar problems in the future, scouring should be the focus
of bridge designers. The main causes of scour are: high river flow, human intervention, and insufficient foundation
depth. In order to minimize scour effect, some recommendations have been listed below (King & Razak, 2000).
a. The bridge structure should cross the river perpendicularly
b. Abutments should not be placed inside the waterway
c. The number of piers inside the river should be minimized
d. Piers should be of oval shape
e. Pile caps should be buried
The assessment of scour on the pile load carry capacity of Mat Bridge has been investigated as part of a case study.
Pile elements were analyzed analytically basing the study on geotechnical data. The effects of different scour
depths on pile load carry capacity were investigated. The depth of scour in Mat Bridge varies from 0.5m to 4.5m.
The highest scour depth in a 30 cm diameter pile is 4.5m: this score depth results into a loose in load carry capacity
of circa 17.64%. The highest scour depth in a 100 cm diameter pile is 3.0m: this score depth results into a loose in
load carry capacity of circa 32.11%. Although the safety factors in soil mechanics vary from 2.5 to 3, the reduction
in load carry capacity is considerable. The bearing capacity of pile has a direct effect on the safety of the entire
bridge structure. Such losses in the bearing capacity pose a serious risk for pier settlements or for overturning, due
to the increased water pressure. It is suggested that these effects must be subject of further studies, focusing on
deflection and bridge load carrying capacity (Periku & Yardim, 2012).

Fig. 4. Scouring on Bridge Piers/Abutment

3.2 Chemical Attack

The chemical attack is the effect of outer aggressive elements or inner material elements. Mainly all bridge
structures suffer from carbonation, chlorides attack, alkaline silica reaction and sulphate. The water in cement
pores is generally alkaline. The carbon dioxide in the air reacts with the alkaline and this creates a more acidic
environment. Carbonation reaction starts from concrete surface and penetrates inside. If the reinforcement is too
close to the concrete cover, early failure, due to corrosion, may occur. Concrete cover is specified in bridge
standards. The main reasons of carbonation noticed in the inspected bridges in Albania are insufficient concrete
cover and the poor quality of concrete. As shown in Figure 5, most of the steel bars have no concrete cover and
the carbonation depth is more than 5mm. Poor quality concrete allows water to penetrate; as a result, steel bars
have been corroded. Corroded steel bars have than lead the spalls in concrete. From 104 inspected bridges, only
5 (4.8%) have no chemical attack risk; 69 of them, or 66.3%, have low or moderate chemical attack risk; and 30
bridges (28.9% ) are in high or very high risk. Chlorides, including sodium chloride, promote the corrosion of

4
 The Value of Structural Health Monitoring for the
reliable Bridge Management

Zagreb 2-3 March 2017

steel bars. Especially in marine environment, sodium chloride causes serious problems. Albanian bridges in
general suffer from carbonation and sodium chloride attacks. In some foundations, sulphate attacks were also
recorded. The main causes of chemical attacks are: insufficient concrete cover, poor quality of concrete, lack of
design details, and poor maintenance.

Fig.5. Chemical Attacks on Bridge Elements

3.3 Water Leakage

Water leakage is a phenomenon noticed in Albanian bridges widely. It is caused from bridge’s non-functioning
elements, especially the drainage systems and the expansion joints. As seen in Figure 6, the bridge elements
have serious water leakage defects. From all inspected bridges only 1 of them or (0.94%) have no water leakage
risk, 72 of them or (69.2%) have low or moderate water leakage risk, and 31 bridges (or 29.8%) are in high or
very high risk. Water leakage resulting from non-functional drainage systems has led to extreme rust on steel
bars and spalls in concrete. Water leakage resulting from nonfunctional expansion joints has caused complex
problems to bridge elements. Nonfunctioning expansion joints together with water carry soil and other debris.
As a result, even plants are seen to have grown over piers, abutments, or beam caps. An example is shown in
Figure 6 (Periku & Yardim, 2011). The main causes of water leakage are: totally out of function drainage
systems, non-functional expansion joints, lack of design details, and lack of maintenance.

Fig. 6. Water Leakage

3.4 Cracks
Cracks are the ‘language’ of reinforced concrete structure. It is very important to understand and analyze them to
understand the behavior of any structure. There are structural and non-structural cracks. It is obligatory to monitor
structural cracks. From exposed steel bars, it is seen that Albanian bridges are over-reinforced. It is not common
to meet flexural cracks. The types of cracks mostly seen in these bridges are shear cracks, longitudinal cracks,
and plastic shrinkage cracks, as shown in Figure 7. Shear cracks are the most delicate structural cracks found on
the inspected bridges, as shown in Figure 7 (a). From the exposed steel bars (Figure 8.), it is seen that steel bars
designed to resist moment are very dense. However, the same attention has not been paid to stirrups; they have
been placed far from each other, sometimes more than 50cm. Additionally, they are small in diameter.
Longitudinal cracks are mostly seen in abutments and sometimes in piers, as shown in Figure 7 (b). These types
of cracks usually happen due to differentiated settlement of foundation. Plastic shrinkage cracking occurs in the
surface of fresh concrete, soon after it is placed, and while it is still plastic. It is widely seen especially in deck
elements, where the concrete surface is greater, as seen in Figure 7 (c). The bridge implementer should be careful
about the concrete itself, the weather and the temperature as well as the concrete placement, in order to avoid
these types of cracks. Among the 104 inspected bridges, 28 of them, or 26.9%, have no crack risk; 67 of them, or
64.4%, have low or moderate crack risk; and 9 bridges, (or 8.7%) are in high or very high risk. The main causes

5
 A GENERAL OVERVIEW ON THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF ALBANIAN BRIDGES

of cracks are: overload, poor workmanship, and lack of design details. In spite of the presence of structural and
non-structural cracks, the problematic phenomenon noticed in almost every bridge is concrete spalls, discussed
below.

(a) Shear crack (b) Longitudinal Crack (c) Plastic shrinkage cracks

Fig. 7. Cracks

3.5 Concrete Spalls

Almost in every bridge designed and constructed in the time period between 1944 and 1991, concrete spalls are
widely seen. Bad construction and poor workmanship is found mostly on bridges built in this period. Very thin or
no concrete cover is the first visible deficiency. It is believed that the thin cover spall disappeared after a few
years, which left the reinforcement without protection. This led to heavy corroded reinforcement and severe
slapping, as shown in Figure 8 Steel bars are totally exposed and extremely rusted. Sometimes, more than half of
the steel diameter is utterly gone. In Figure 8, it can be easily noticed that the shear links are very small in diameter
and placed far from each other. The main cause of spall is the insufficient concrete cover.

Fig. 8. Concrete Spalls

3.6 Expansion Joint Defects

The main function of expansion joints is to absorb movement caused by high traffic volumes, temperature, stress
of expansion, and/or contraction. They are active members and are supposed to be replaced several times during
the service life of a bridge. Moreover, the joints are directly responsible for the traffic flow and safety on bridges.
Therefore, close attention should be paid to this structure member. The main defects on these members are:
abnormal spacing, difference in level, abnormal noise, leaking, and pavement cracks. Expansion joints’ problem
is another very frequent problem observed during the visual inspection of the analyzed Albanian bridges. Hence,
almost all the types of defects resulting from damaged expansion joints are also found on the inspected bridges.
Furthermore, several bad construction and repair practices worsen the problems associated with the expansion
joints. The expansion joint defects can be seen in Figure 9. Common expansion joints problems in Albania’s
bridges are: abnormal noise, differences in the surface level, leakage, and pavement cracks. Most of the joints
need to be changed by experts, while some could be recovered by repairing. From 104 inspected bridges, in 39
bridges the expansion joint has not been applied. Among the ones that have expansion joints, none of them is
free of the risks posed by the previously mentioned defects. Indeed, 39 of them (or 60.0%) have low or moderate
expansion joint defect risk, and 26 bridges (or 40.0%) are in the high or very high risk category. The main causes
of expansion joint defects are: lack of proper maintenance, poor workmanship, and lack of design details.

6
 The Value of Structural Health Monitoring for the
reliable Bridge Management

Zagreb 2-3 March 2017

Fig. 9. Expansion Joint Defects

3.7 Bearing Defects

Bearings are the borders between the substructure(s) and superstructure(s) of the bridge. They are responsible
for the transmission of load from the superstructure to the substructure. It allows rotation caused by deflection,
and depending on the types, it permits horizontal movement of the beams due to thermal expansion and
contraction. The failure or the malfunction of this element leads to extra stress on the superstructure. This can
grow progressively and cause serious problems. Cracks on load carrying elements were noticed in many bridges
which had locked or non-functional bearings. Indeed, bearing defects are very frequent. Many of these elements
should be changed, whereas some could be recovered by cleaning and repairing. It is very usual to see serious
bearing problems such as; rusted bearings, frozen bearings, excessive bulging and horizontal deformation, as
shown on Figure 10. From 104 inspected bridges, 8 of them (or 12 .5%) have no bearing defect risk, 34 (or
53.1%) have low or moderate bearing defect risk, and 22 bridges (or 34.4%) are in high or very high risk. There
are 40 bridges where bearings have not been applied. The main causes of bearing defects are the overload, lack
of proper maintenance, poor workmanship, and lack of design details.

Fig. 10. Bearing Defects

3.8 Surface Wearing Defects

The wearing of the surface is the top layer of a highway, and it protects the deck surface from water leakage and
other atmospheric agents. All the wearing of surfaces in Albanian bridges is asphaltic. Defects found on the
wearing of the surface are asphaltic cracks and holes, like the ones shown on Figure 11. In many cases the surface
wearing is totally destroyed, and thus, the deck surface is directly under the effects of the traffic flow. Among
the inspected bridges, 7 of them -or 6.7%- have no wearing surface defect risk, 86 of them or 82.7%- have low
or moderate wearing surface defect risk and 11 bridges or 10.6% are in high or very high risk. The main causes
of surface wearing defects are low-quality material, lack of proper maintenance, and poor workmanship.

Fig. 11. Wearing Surface Defects

7
 A GENERAL OVERVIEW ON THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF ALBANIAN BRIDGES

3.9 Drainage Defects

Water is one of the most-widely used construction materials in the project implementation phase. Just after the
completing of the project, a great effort is shown to collect water and take it away from all structures. This
process is done via the drainage systems. The main function of a drainage system is to remove water away from
the bridge superstructure and substructure. In general, drainage systems have a shorter design life than that of
the structure, so they need to be periodically checked and replaced if necessary. The necessary effort is not
shown for the proper maintenance of the drainage systems, especially in public works. Almost in all bridge
structures, the drainage system has serious defects. Sometimes these defects are a result of the implementation
and every so often from the poor maintenance. Non-functional drainage systems cause problems to the bridge’s
surface wearing. The water collected on bridge decks is a real risk for the sliding vehicles. The water that is not
collected by the drainage system causes problems to the bridge superstructure and substructure. Defects found
on drainage system are very extensive; the most common ones are blocked and missing pipes, as shown in Figure
12. From 104 inspected bridges none of them lacks drainage defect risk, 22 of them, or 21.2%, have low or
moderate drainage defect risk and 82 bridges, or 78.8%, are in high or very high risk. The drainage system is the
bridge element in the poorest condition, as noticed in the inspection process. Even bridges that are not older than
10 years have serious drainage defects. The main cause of drainage defects is the lack of maintenance and of
design details.

Fig. 12. Drainage Defects

3.10 Bridge Rail Defects

The main reason why inspection and maintenance is applied on a bridge is to ensure the life safety of bridge users
rather than the economic value of the structure. One of the bridge’s rail functions is to reduce the consequences of
vehicles leaving the bridge/road. In February 21, 2011 near Peshkopi city, a car fell from a bridge. The fatal
accident resulted in the death of two young people (Gazeta Panorama; 2011). During the author’s inspection, it
was noticed that the bridge was part of a new road and that it was still under construction. Although the bridge had
been opened to traffic, the bridge rails had not been installed yet. If the bridge rail were installed, at least the life
of the people involved in the accident would have been saved. Unfortunately, in many cases newly built bridges
serve to traffic for a long time with no bridge rail installed at all. The Himara tragic accident in May 21, 2012
resulted in the death of 13 young people, while 22 others were dangerously injured (Gazeta Shekulli, 2012; Gazeta
Shqiptare, 2012; Gazeta Koha Jone, 2012). Along with other reasons that led to this tragedy, it was noticed that
the guard rail was not strong enough to resist the vehicle crash. It is not enough to have guard rails in good
conditions; in fact, it is essential to have them designed in order to resist specific vehicle impact. AASHTO of
2007 explains in details the 6 levels of bridge rail performance. It defines that the rail strength should be determined
to correspond to the vehicles’ weight, speed, and angle of impact. In Albania, as seen in previous accidents, in
most cases bridge rails could not resists the vehicle impact. It is vital to have a rating system of existing bridge
railing within the country. Bridge rails found on road networks shall be clearly classified in compliance with the
type of impact they can resist. This classification will affect the road user’s approach and caution. All the users of
the road network are closely associated with the bridge conditions. It is essential to have a community reaction
when bridge accidents happen, otherwise the work done from bridge inspectors will not be sufficient and cautious.
Defects found on bridge rail are 1) missing elements and 2) broken connection. Some bridge rail defects are shown
in Figure 13. Bridges built in the 1944 to 1991, time period have generally concrete railings. Due to concrete
degradation these rails are missing or under pressure. Bridges built in last two decades tend to have metallic rails.
A phenomenon encountered in some cases is the destruction of these rails for informal profit from careless and
ruthless individuals. Among the 104 inspected bridges 12 of them, or 11.5%, have no bridge rail defect risk; 63 of
them, or 60.6%, have low or moderate bridge rail defect risk; and 29 bridges, or 27.9%, are in high or very high
risk. The main causes of bridge rail defects are human intervention as well as lack of proper maintenance and of
design details.

8
 The Value of Structural Health Monitoring for the
reliable Bridge Management

Zagreb 2-3 March 2017

Fig. 13. Bridge Rail Defects

4 Conclusions
This study was carried out to identify the current status of bridges in Albania and to review the deficiencies
occurring on these structures. It is recorded that the existing bridges are in poor or very poor physical conditions
and have many defects and deficiencies. The main causes of these defects according to visual inspection are traffic
load, environmental conditions, aging, poor workmanship, lack of detailed design, and lack of maintenance.
Problems like the collapsing of the entire bridge structure are rare. Nonetheless, scouring is the main cause of most
collapses. Other problems like missing or under-strength parapets, broken or nonfunctional drainage pipes, blocked
and extremely rusted bearings, as well as nonfunctional expansion joints may sometimes lead to major safety
problems, and bridge owners have, thus, to take precautions.
The samples used in this study represent 18.51% of the number and 37.69% of the length of the total national
bridge stock of Albania. Excessive attention was paid so that the used section was the most encompassing
representative of Albanian bridges.
It is observed that required attention is not paid while selecting and designing some bridge elements like bearings,
expansion joints, and/or foundation depth. These defects can be found even in quite new bridges, as pointed out
by problems such as horizontal deformation in elastomeric bearings, broken or nonfunctional expansion joints, and
scouring problems. The drainage system and the expansion joints are two other vital elements which should be
constructed with care. Most of the defects found in the drainage systems and expansion joints were the result of
poor workmanship. Both bridge designers and implementers in Albania should take into consideration the common
bridge defects listed above. Relevant departments should pay attention to the preparation of a functional
maintenance program. Finally, these issues should be carried to a public level to increase awareness about the
bridge conditions and potential risks. This awareness will increase relevant departments’ responsibility, and this
will have a significant impact on the improvement of the current status of Albanian bridges.

References
AASHTO, Bridge Design Specifications. USA 2007.
Bridge Inspection Manual, Washington Department of Transportation, 2010.
BS 5400-4. Steel, concrete and composite bridges. Code of practice for design of concrete bridges, ISBN 0 580
184420. Published by British standard Institute, 1990.
Chassiakos A. P., Vagiotas P., Theodorakopoulos D.D., “A knowledge- based system for maintenance planning
of highway concrete bridges”, Advances in Engineering Software, Volume 36 Issue 11-12. 2005.
Chen W.F., Duan L., “Bridge Engineering: Construction and Maintenance”, CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida,
2003.
Delegation of the European Commission to Albania, “Albanian Bridge Asset Management System Manual
Introduction & Overview”, Ref: EuropeAid/127796/C/SER/AL. 2010.
Gazeta Koha Jone, “Tragjedia e Himares, homazh dhe dhimbje per 13 viktimat”, May 23, 2012, Viti XXII, Nr.
130 (6346). 2012.
Gazeta Panorama, “Peshkopi, dy te vdekur ne aksident”, www.panorama.com.al/aktualitet/. Access on 22
February 2011.
Gazeta Shekulli, “Studentet qe perloten shqiperine”, May 23, 2012, Viti XVI, Nr. 3680. 2012.
Gazeta Shqiptare, “Kronike e nje vdekje te paralajmeruar”, May 23, 2012, Viti XIX, Nr. 5648. 2012.

9
 A GENERAL OVERVIEW ON THE PHYSICAL CONDITION OF ALBANIAN BRIDGES

Gazeta Tema, “Fiksi denoncon skandalin: Për 3 mijë euro drejtori i partisë së çamëve të lejon të shkatërrosh çdo
lumë”, http://www.gazetatema.net, Access on 14 May 2012.
Gurevich D., Vlahos N.J., Network-level bridge management systems for national road administrations Eighth
TRB international bridge management conference, Denver, Colorado, USA p. F-2/1. 1999.
Hawk H., Small E.P., “The BRIDGIT bridge management system”, Struct. Eng Intern, No 8(4), pp.309–314. 1998.
Inspection Manual for Highway Structures, Volume 1-2, TSO. London 2007.
Jaafar M.S., Yardim Y., Thanoon W.A., Noorzaei J., “Development of a Knowledge-Based System for Bridge
Condition Assessment”. Indian Concrete Journal, December 2003, Pages 7-13. 2003.
King N. S., Razak R.A, “Bridge Hydraulic Problems in Malaysia”. Paper published in proceedings of the 4th
International Seminar on Bridges and Aqueducts Mumbai, India. 2000.
Periku E., Yardim Y., “Deficiencies of Some Important Bridges in Albania”, Proceedings of the Balkans
Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, Tirana, Albania. 2011.
Periku E., Yardim Y., “Effect of Scour on Load Carry Capacity of Piles on Mat Bridge”, Proceedings of
International Student Conference of Civil Engineering, Tirana, Albania. 2012.
REAM “A Guide to Bridge Inspection, Road Engineering Association of Malaysia”, Kuala Lumpur, 2003.
Thompson P.D., Small E.P., Johnson M., Marshall A.R., “The PONTIS bridge management system”. Struct Eng
Intern, No.8 (4), pp.303–308. 1998.
Top-Cannel, “Fikse Fare, 01 May 2012”, http://www.top- channel.tv/video.php?id=11501&ll=12, Access on 14
May 2012
Waher G.A., FHWA, Federal Highway Administration - US department of Transportation. Developing NDE
Technologies for Infrastructure Assessment, 1999.
Wan B., Foley C., Komp J., “New bridge decks and overlays”, SPR # 0092-09-06, Transportation Research Center,
Marquette University, 2010.

10