Disruptive technology for the identification, quantification and prediction of the evolution of damages in civil engineering structures that increases safety while reducing maintenance costs.

Project Information

PAROST

Grant agreement ID: 873261

DOI

10.3030/873261

Project closed

EC signature date 27 August 2019

Start date 1 September 2019

End date 30 November 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 1 513 167,50

EU contribution

€ 1 059 217,00

Coordinated by

IDVIA2020 HORIZONTE 2020 SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PAROST (Disruptive technology for the identification, quantification and prediction of the evolution of damages in civil engineering structures that increases safety while reducing maintenance costs.)

Reporting period: 2020-09-01 to 2021-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Not knowing how deterioration will evolve not only leads to safety uncertainties but has also a direct influence on the efficiency when carrying out the investment in maintenance. EU28 annual maintenance expenditure grows 5% each year since most of the tunnels and bridges in Europe were built between the 1950s and 1970s, demanding nowadays 60% of the total investment on infrastructure (over €60,000 Million/year from public funds). Consequently, apart from ensuring safety, optimising the maintenance investment is a priority for infrastructure managers as delaying investments only escalates the costs and risks of an aging infrastructure.
Improved techniques have enhanced inspection and monitoring of infrastructure, but assessment and interpretation of the collected data to support strategic maintenance decisions regarding long-term planning remains a challenge.
It is necessary to take maintenance and quality control to the next level, as it is not enough to identify and locate the damage. Predicting how damage will evolve over time is vital to carry out the necessary maintenance activities and to know with certainty what the real remaining useful life of the infrastructure is.
PAROST is a low cost and easy to install system capable of not only identifying (locating and quantifying) visible and non-visible structural damage in civil engineering concrete structures but also predicts their evolution over time for making cost-effective maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement decisions (MR&R), and to ensure that safety, serviceability and functionality of the structure can be sustained over its designed service life. The latter makes PAROST a real disruptive breakthrough in the structural health monitoring area considering all existing SHMs on the market.
When implementing PAROST, infrastructure owners will be able to design a predictive maintenance strategy based on reliable predictions of deterioration evolution and global structure stability. This will improve safety while reducing maintenance costs of 507.200 road bridges and 46.904 road tunnels in Europe by 8.452M€/year.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The total duration of the project is established in 27 months. This annual report is the last one of the project. During the 27 months of the project, the following tasks have been developed:
WP1:
Composed of 3 tasks; all three (Task 1.1 to 1.3) were applicable for the first year:
- Task 1.1: The result of this task has been the definition of hardware features and requirements for PAROST, included in the deliverable D1.1.
- Task 1.2: The result of this task has been the definition of digital platform features and requirements, included in the deliverable D1.1.
- Task 1.2: The result of this task has been the definition of communication system requirements, included in the deliverable D1.1.
WP2:
Composed of 4 tasks; all four (Task 2.1 to 2.4) were applicable for the first year:
- Task 2.1: The result of this task has been the first version of hardware system architecture improvement included in the deliverable D2.1i.
- Task 2.2: The result of this task has been the first version of data transfer technology upgrade, included in the deliverable D2.1i.
- Task 2.3: The result of this task is included in deliverable D2.3i.
- Task 2.4: The result of the standardization test will be included in the deliverable D2.2. WP 3:
Composed of 5 tasks; all five (Task 3.1 to 3.5) were applicable for the first year and three months of second year (Task 3.5):
- Task 3.1: The result is the creation of the database first version, included in D3.2i.
- Task 3.2: The result of this task has been the development of the first version of the logical layer, included in D3.2i.
- Task 3.3: The result is the first version implementation of graphic interfaces and presentation of results, included in D3.2i.
- Task 3.4: The result of this task is the testing of the digital platform first version, is included in D3.2i.
- Task 3.5: The result of this task is after testing, launching and fixation of errors. It is included in the deliverable D3.2f.
WP4:
Composed of 4 tasks; all three (Task 4.1 to 4.4) were applicable for the second year:
- Task 4.1: It includes a complete definition of PAROST system and its adaption to two demonstrators. This information is included in D4.1.
- Task 4.2: It includes a detailed design of PAROST for selected structures and its installation process. This information is included in D4.2 and D4.3.
- Task 4.3: It includes implementation of record acquisition system and adaptation of the digital platform. This information is included in D4.2 and D4.3.
- Task 4.4: It includes a complete analysis of data records and validation of algorithm. It is included in D4.3
WP5:
Composed of 4 tasks; all four (Task 5.1 to 5.4) were applicable for the first and second year:
- Task 5.1: The result of this task is the generation of an updated business innovation plan, it is included in D5.1 and record of exploitation activities included in D5.4.
- Task 5.2: The result of this task is knowledge management and IPR protection and its report. It is included in deliverable D5.3 and D5.6
- Task 5.3. The result of this task is Data Management Plan (DMP) and its report. It is included in D5.2 and D5.5.
- Task 5.4: The result of this task is industrial and Scientific dissemination activities and communication activities planification. It is included in deliverable D5.3
All these tasks must be done in parallel to the project and aim to define an effective exploitation and business model to maximise the results and achievements of the project.
WP6:
Composed of 3 tasks; all three (Task 6.1 to 6.3) were applicable for the current year:
- Task 6.1: Technical coordination.
- Task 6.2: Administrative management.
- Task 6.3: Quality monitoring and risk assessment.
The result of this task until is included in deliverable D6.1 and D6.2. All these tasks must be done in parallel to the project and aim to ensure an efficient project execution leading to the achievement of our objectives.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

After laboratory tests and tests in controlled environments carried out on hardware and data transmission technology, PAROST will be able to be certified under European and Worldwide standards.
This allows the introduction of the PAROST system in the market. It is estimated that around 30% of European annual investment in road maintenance (€14.860 Million/year) is allocated to maintenance operations in bridges and tunnels, while these only account for 3% of the total road network length.
Thanks to the advantages it offers compared to conventional equipment, fast growth is expected. Cost of traditional visual inspections for tunnels is around 3.500€/km. For bridges, these inspections are more expensive, especially if they require special means such as divers to examine bridge scour (from 5.000€ to 15.000€ for an average 120m long bridge).
PAROST also produce social impacts. On August 14th 2018 the Morandi Bridge in Genoa (Italy) collapsed, killing 41 people and causing an economic damage that will take years to repair. Autostrade per l'Italia (owned by Atlantia Company, one of the world's biggest road concessionaire companies) managed this bridge whose construction was completed in 1967 and designed to last for at least 100 years. It is not yet clear what caused the collapse but everything seems to indicate that it was not due to maintenance oversight. PAROST would have prevented the tragedy.

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