Sustainable Bridges - Past and Future Reflections on a European Project 2003-2007
Paper in proceeding, 2023

Twenty years ago, in 2003, a European project was started to increase the sustainability of existing railway bridges. This paper summarises what was achieved and looks ahead. Nine Working Packages were organized: (1) Background material; (2) Guidance by stakeholders; (3) Condition Assessment and Inspection Guidelines; (4) Loads, Capacity and Resistance Guidelines; (5) Monitoring Guidelines; (6) Repair and Strengthening Guidelines; (7) Demonstration with Field testing of Bridges; (8) Demonstration on Monitoring on Bridges; and (9) Training and Dissemination Some of the main results (from 4 Guidelines and 47 Background documents) are highlighted and some experiences, conclusions and thoughts about the future are given. Hidden strengths and weaknesses are discussed, analyses and codes for assessment can be improved, new monitoring and strengthening methods are available and life length can be prolonged.

Modelling

Load-carrying capacity

Assessment

Bridges

Monitoring

Management

Codes

Life-length

Testing

Strengthening

Author

Brian Bell

Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd

Jan Bien

Wrocław University of Science and Technology

Christian Cremona

Bouygues

Glauco Feltrin

Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa)

Jens S. Jensen

COWI A/S

Risto Kiviluoma

WSP Group

Ernst Niederleithinger

Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing

Jessica Olofsson

Skanska

Other publications Research

Björn Paulsson

Swedish Transport Administration

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Dynamics

Other publications Research

B. Täljsten

Luleå University of Technology

G. Sas

Luleå University of Technology

Lennart Elfgren

Luleå University of Technology

IABSE Congress, New Delhi 2023: Engineering for Sustainable Development, Report

690-698
9781713883128 (ISBN)

23rd IABSE Congress New Delhi 2023: Engineering for Sustainable Development
New Delhi, India,

Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)

Infrastructure Engineering

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Latest update

5/29/2026

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