Safety of motorway users in case of a strong seismic event is directly related to the performance of infrastructure elements, especially motorway bridges. Preventive closure until post–seismic inspection may seem as the safest option, but will unavoidably lead to severe deterioration of serviceability, and will also obstruct the operations of rescue teams. On the other hand, allowing traffic on earthquake–damaged bridges without inspection may jeopardize the safety of users and rescue teams. Seismic retrofit is the obvious solution, but the associated costs can be quite substantial. An alternative strategy is to mitigate the indirect consequences of an earthquake, through timely development and implementation of a RApid REsponse (RARE) system. The scope of such a RARE system is to ensure the safety of motorway users, minimizing motorway network closure, and optimizing post-seismic recovery at the same time. The development of such a RARE system requires an effective means to estimate seismic damage in real time. This paper presents an overview of the RARE system and some first steps that were made regarding its pilot application in the Attiki Odos Motorway in Athens, Greece.
