Bridges and tunnels are the critical nodes on the transport infrastructure networks which are vital for the functioning and growth of European and regional economy. This infrastructure is ageing and often inadequate to cope with the increasing traffic demands and resilience threats. Such a condition brings high safety risks. The main objectives of IM-SAFE are to support the European Commission and the European Committee for Standardization in preparing new standards in monitoring, maintenance and safety of transport infrastructure, and to accelerate the process for enabling public authorities and supply-chain stakeholders in transport infrastructure to commit to the development and adoption of the new standards.

Accurate information from monitoring of structures is crucial to take the right decisions on maintenance and safety. Unfortunately, there are gaps in the existing regulations and the monitoring practice throughout European. The need for robust and harmonized standardization is generally acknowledged by public authorities and industrial stakeholders. However, development and adoption of new European standards involve complex processes that require multi-level dialogues, consensus and commitment from political and industrial stakeholders to move forward from legacy procedures. 

IM-SAFE will pave the way to new European standards for monitoring and maintenance of the structures, and to the improvement of the rules in the structural design codes by filling-in the gaps in the current knowledge and closing the gap between the standard and the practice with regard to the monitoring of structures.