The International Association for Bridge Maintenance and Safety (or IABMAS) is an international organization founded in 1999. Its declared mission is "to become the premier international organization for the advancement of the state-of-the-art in the fields of bridge maintenance, safety and management" . The main focus of the association includes, but is not limited to, bridge repair and rehabilitation issues; bridge management systems; needs of bridge owners, financial planning, whole life costing and investment for the future; bridge related safety and risk issues and economic and other implications.

Conferences

The main activity that allows IABMAS to pursue the fulfillment of its objective and mission is the organization of conferences. Five international conferences have already been held and the sixth one will take place in 2012.

• IABMAS Conference 2002: July 14–17, 2002, Barcelona
  Barcelona
  Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
  
  , Spain
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
  
• IABMAS Conference 2004: October 18–22, 2004, Kyoto
  Kyoto
  is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
  
  , Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  
• IABMAS Conference 2006: July 16–19, 2006, Porto
  Porto
  Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
  
  , Portugal
  Portugal
  Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
  
  
• IABMAS Conference 2008: July 13–17, 2008, Seoul
  Seoul
  Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
  
  , Korea
  Korea
  Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
  
  
• IABMAS Conference 2010: July 11–15, 2010, Philadelphia (PA), USA
• IABMAS Conference 2012: July 8–12, 2012, Lake Como
  Lake Como
  Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
  
  , Italy
  Italy
  Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
  
  

Moreover, IABMAS has sponsored more than forty events organized by other associations .

Technical Committees

Within the association, two technical committees focus on topics of special interest.

The technical committee on Bridge Health Monitoring (BHM) is aimed at "highlighting the inherent advantages of BHM paradigm, and documenting the promising implementations throughout the world" . The committee is chaired by A. Emin Aktan and the Secretary is Necati Catbas.

The technical committee on Bridge Management is concerned with "methods and technologies for selection and evaluation of cost-effective, programmatic optimal strategies for comprehensive management of bridges and structures, taking into account life cycle costs and functional requirements such as safety, mobility, and traffic congestion" . The committee is chaired by Leo Klatter.

National Groups

Two National groups have been founded to enhance the penetration of the association and the diffusion of its activities. The first group was founded in Portugal (Portuguese Association for Bridge Safety and Management or ASCP ) and the second in Japan (Japanese Association for Bridge Management and Safety or JABMAS).

IABMAS Awards

At every IABMAS conference, the association awards prizes to distinguished scholars and professional engineers in the fields of bridge maintenance, safety, and management. Depending on the age of the recipient, the association awards Young prizes, Junior prizes and Senior prizes. Moreover, the association has given Special Service Awards.
Since 2006, in collaboration with T.Y. Lin International , the association awards also the T.Y. Lin Medal.