Structural Safety Assessment Method for Ancient Chinese Timber Arch Lounge Bridges

Structural safety assessments of ancient timber arch lounge bridges are necessary for determining the health statuses of these bridges and the urgency of any required maintenance. Based on the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method, we proposed a general method for assessing the structural safety of ancient timber arch lounge bridges. The proposed method comprehensively considers the structural safety of the sub- and superstructures of timber arch lounge bridges. Considering both qualitative and quantitative indicators in combination with the structural characteristics of timber arch lounge bridges, a comprehensive and systematic hierarchical assessment model was proposed. An objective method for determining the weight coefficients of the woven arch members was also proposed. In addition, a new fuzzy operator was proposed to improve the FCE method. The new fuzzy operator can consider the comprehensiveness of the relevant information and highlight crucial factors, thus improving the reasonability and accuracy of the assessment results. A case study was conducted to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. This study provides a quantitative structural safety assessment method for ancient timber arch lounge bridges and provides a reference for assessing the safety of other timber arch bridges based on the principle of polygonal arches.