Influence of the environment aggressiveness on durability of girders made of S355 steel in Poland

The following article discusses the problem of durability of girders made of structural steel S355 affected by corrosion. It presents the Polish procedure for calculating the time between failures of steel elements of bridge and durability factors necessary to estimate the impact of corrosion on the durability of steel road bridges. According to the presented procedure, two real bridges of steel structure were analysed. The bridges selected for analysis are located in extremely different corrosive environments in Poland. This bridges were built in different areas of the country which are characterized by different (mountain, urban) aggressiveness of the environment. The objects of the analysis differ in terms of corrosion type occurring on the bearing system. Their age is also different which has a significant impact on their safety.The results obtained allowed to determine the time when, with the existing corrosion damage, failures may occur.