Assessment, measurement and monitoring of the Old Bridge crossing Danube in Bratislava

Abstract eng:
A large number of existing bridges need to be rehabilitated due to increasing traffic and/or loading requirements. A procedure is presented for estimating the the ultimate capacity of steel bridge over the Danube in Bratislava – Old Bridge (built in 1945). The development of a simplified Finite Element Model (FEM) and basic modal parameters calculations forewent the bridge experimental investigations via static and dynamic in situ loading tests, so that the main assumptions adopted in the FEM were assed through the comparison between measured and predicted dynamic and modal parameters of the bridge structure. The bridge structure computational model was then optimized by structure variable values (mainly steel structure joints mass and corrosion grade) to achieve the minimum differences between the experimental and theoretical results. The calibrated FEM with the optimal combinations of the mentioned variable values was defined and finally used for structure calculations and strengthening design of the real bridge structure.

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