Despite the constantly increasing number of examples and knowledge exchange on the use of surveying information form inspection, testing and monitoring to support the safety and risk assessment of existing structures, major challenges are being faced in establishing consensus on harmonised standards. Among other factors, the lack of consolidation of the current best practices, the limited insight into the actual state of standardisation in the European countries, and the fragmented vision on the future needs and trends of monitoring and maintenance and the barriers in political, economic, social and technical aspects play are major obstacles in creating common grounds for harmonised European standardization. An initial activity in the IM-SAFE project is thus to perform a review of the past, current, and future demands/needs related to monitoring and maintenance of transport infrastructure. The review focuses on bridge infrastructure and, where relevant, on transport infrastructures at large, recognising that to a large extent, the general procedures and best practices for bridges apply for other types of infrastructure, including tunnels. 

The main objectives of project activities sin this area are:

• To conduct in-depth review of the needs for infrastructure monitoring and maintenance in the EU.
• To consolidate and assess the best practices of monitoring, maintenance and safety in the EU and worldwide.
• To analyse the main political, economic, social, and technical (PEST) barriers related with standardisation and wide implementation of infrastructure monitoring, and to recommend improvement strategies based on the lessons-learned from recent failures.