**Featured Application: The data collected can be the basis for determining the structural condition of the structure.**

**Abstract:** Durability, safety, and usability are the three foundations of structural reliability, vital in the economic and social context. As the locating and tracking of potential damage and evaluating its impact on the condition of the structure are part of service life assessment, relevant methods should be developed that would detect the onset of the deterioration process and enable the monitoring of its progress within the entire volume of the structure, not only in the areas selected in a subjective way. The acoustic emission (AE) method relying on the analysis of active destructive processes can be the best choice. This article reports the results of the application of the AE method for identifying active destructive processes and tracking their development during the routine operation of various types of structures.

**Keywords:** acoustic emission (AE); non-destructive methods (NDT); diagnostic methods; bridges; structural health monitoring (SHM)
