Estimating bridge criticality due to extreme traffic loads in highway networks

Around the world, an increasing amount of bridge infrastructure is ageing. The resources involved in the reassessment of existing assets often exceed available resources and many bridges lack a minimum structural assessment. Therefore, there is a need for comprehensive and quantitative approaches to assess all the assets in the bridge network to...

Time-dependent reliability assessment of existing concrete bridges with varying knowledge levels by proof load testing

In the evaluation of existing bridges and viaducts, relying solely on a desk study is often inadequate for determining their structural reliability. Performing a proof load test provides valuable field data that offers detailed information about the structural integrity. However, the relation between the magnitude of the load and the...

Detailed distinct element modeling of a Utrecht wharf cellar for the assessment of the load-bearing capacity and failure mechanism

The city of Utrecht is famously known for the system of canals and the wharf cellars integrated to the heart of the city, whose construction dates back to the 1300s. Due to increased traffic volume which caused the increase in dead load and traffic load, it is important to assess the safety and state of maintenance of these historical structures...

Structural Assessment of a Masonry Quay Wall in Amsterdam Under Traffic Loading

Canals delimited by masonry quay walls are integral elements of many cities in the Netherlands. Historically built to enable the efficient transportation of goods, today such infrastructure also gives the cities their historical and monumental character. In recent years, many quay walls in the Netherlands have shown substantial deformation and...

Investigation of the Structural Performance of Masonry Wharf Cellars in Utrecht Using the Distinct Element Method

One of the characteristic features of the city of Utrecht is its extensive system of canals and wharf cellars, whose constructions date back as early as the 1200s, and which are now considered as one of the historical properties of the city. A typical wharf cellar in Utrecht comprises a masonry barrel vault with multi-layered rings for the...

A novel tier-based numerical analysis procedure for the structural assessment of masonry quay walls under traffic loads

Historical quay walls constructed in unreinforced masonry are integral elements of many cities. Originally designed as gravity retaining walls, they are nowadays often subjected to the action of traffic loads as a result of vehicles travelling on roads constructed on their backfill. This paper presents a numerical analysis procedure for carrying...

Shear Force in Bolted Connection Due to Traffic and Temperature Loads in Hybrid Steel-FRP Bridges

As many bridges are reaching the end of their service life, researchers are searching for new solutions to extend the lifespan of those bridges. Fibre reinforce polymers (FRP) could be possible a solution for bridges with deck problems. Lightweight FRP decks can be installed quickly via bolted connectors on steel substructure. In general,...

Numerical study on the creep behaviour of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer sandwich structures considering traffic loading

Ageing of infrastructure leads to an increasing demand for new technologies and design solutions in current bridge engineering. Over the last decades the traffic intensity has grown tremendously, while design codes and regulations have become stricter. Many current steel bridges realised in The Netherlands suffer from fatigue problems....

Vehicular loads hazard mapping through a Bayesian Network in the State of Mexico

Traffic counts collect information that is valuable, for example, in bridge and road design or maintenance processes. The average daily traffic volume is often the most collected measure of vehicular traffic, which is used in the design or assessment of major highways. Permanent control stations, situated in key locations of the highway network,...

Developing a traffic load model for bridges based on registered license plates: Verifying structural reliability of existing structures by using Monte Carlo simulations with a load model based on license plates

New and existing bridges in the Netherlands must abide by structural safety codes, such as the Eurocode. In this code, structural safety is expressed through the reliability index 훽. For certain reference periods a threshold value for 훽 exists. When applying prescribed load models given in the Eurocode, the structure is guaranteed to at least...

Numerical and experimental assessment of the load bearing capacity of an existing prefabricated culvert from 1971

The main question of this thesis is the result of a survey by ‘provincie Zuid-Holland’ (PZH), that has developed a ‘uniform model’ for the assessment of the structural safety of existing prefabricated culverts. PZH is considering the possibility of using generic parameters to decide on the strength of existing culverts in the area. The province...

Traffic load balancing to improve urban air quality

The growth of traffic densities has increased the concentrations of air pollutants, especially in city centres. Although the natural immune system of the human body can withstand low levels of exposure to air pollutants, exposure to high levels of air pollutants can lead to adverse health effects and even death. These high exposure levels are...

Fatigue loads identification on orthotropic steel decks - Learning from strain measurements in practice

Initiation and propagation of fatigue cracks under heavy traffic loading is one of the most frequent causes of damage for road steel bridges. A particular case where fatigue phenomena have often been observed is the orthotropic steel deck (OSD). Due to its intricate layout with plated structural components in different planes and the inherent...

Probabilistic traffic load model for short-span city bridges

In the coming years numerous existing traffic bridges in cities are subject to re-evaluation. In this paper a new probabilistic traffic load model for short-span bridges is proposed. As an example, site-specific weigh-in-motion data from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is included in the model. The method proposed in this paper allows for a very...

Infrastructure Management: Dynamic control of assets

The infrastructure in the Netherlands is crucial for economic development on a national scale. Dramatic increases of transport and mobility accelerate ageing of infrastructure. The GNP of the Netherlands is strongly related to transport and to the two main ports (Port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol). The Netherlands is used to a...

Safety assessment of existing highway bridges and viaducts

The assessment of the structural safety of existing br idges and viaducts becomes increasingly important in many countries owing to an increase in traffic loads. Most existing standards, however, are developed for the design of new structures. For this reason, an assessment method for determining the actual safety level of highway bridges and...