Wind field characteristics at Hardanger Bridge site: comparison of wind tunnel terrain model tests with full-scale measurements

Abstract eng:
The Hardanger Bridge is a suspension bridge crossing the Hardanger fjord in Norway. With a main span of 1310 m, and with only two traffic lanes, and one lane for bicycles and pedestrians, it is one of the slenderest bridges in the world. As part of a research project funded by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), full-scale measurements of wind velocities at 8 points along the bridge girder has been monitored since the bridge was opened to public in 2013. In 1991, during the design of the Hardanger Bridge, wind tunnel tests on a 1:2000 scale terrain model of the surrounding topography was performed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The Hardanger fjord is surrounded by steep mountains creating two distinct wind directions from each side along the fjord, approximately perpendicular to the bridge direction. Considering the two dominating wind directions, two terrain models were tested in the wind tunnel to investigate the wind field characteristics relevant to bridge design. The variations of mean wind velocity and turbulence intensities were measured along the bridge deck in the wind tunnel tests. When designing long span bridges susceptible to wind excitation, it is desirable to obtain information about the wind field characteristics at the planned location of the bridge girder. In this paper, the wind tunnel test results are compared with the full-scale measurements to investigate the performance of the terrain model tests on predicting the local wind field characteristics in complex terrain. The wind field measurements along the bridge girder are also compared with the on-site mast measurements done in the years prior to the design of the bridge. Onsite measurements of the wind field with a mast placed close to the future bridge crossing are a valuable source of information about the local wind field when designing long-span bridges. Comparison of the mast measurements and the field measurements along the bridge girder is also investigated in this paper.

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