Updating the failure probability of miter gates based on observation of water levels

Hydraulic steel structures, especially lock gates play a significant role in keeping navigation traffic uninterrupted. After a few decades of operation, many of the welded joints may suffer various degrees of deterioration, primarily due to fatigue. To economically combining crack inspection with a scheduled maintenance of the movable parts of the gate, it is valuable to predict inspection time of the welded joints using the observed water levels of the operational history. The updating of the failure probability is done for three inspection techniques, considering annual probability and repair decisions.