Advances in Science and Technology Vol. 164

Abstract: The paper presents the execution of repair works of the movable bridge conducted by Spegra, a company specialized in the restoration and reconstruction of various types of structures. The Trogir - Čiovo Island bridge is located on the Croatian coast near the historic city of Trogir. The bridge spans a narrow sea strait, connecting the city of Trogir with the nearby Čiovo Island. It was built in 1962 as a movable bridge with a structure consisting of steel and reinforced concrete elements with a stone cladding. The bridge has three spans, with a total length of 102 meters including approaches. The central movable span structure is an arch steel construction, while the other two are reinforced concrete arches. The bridge restoration works are divided into three groups. The first group: dismantling, restoration, and assembly of the steel span structure and expansion joint steel elements. The second group: restoration of reinforced concrete elements: roadway slabs, pedestrian walkways, arches, and the interior of caissons. The third group: restoration of the stone cladding of the bridge. All works were conducted in cooperation with the Conservation Department of the city of Trogir.

Abstract: Bridge design developed for centuries. Bridges were originally designed on the basis of experience, during the time a lot of additional criteria influencing the design have been involved. The primary role of the design is played by the design engineer, who is responsible for the evaluation of conditions in the location, design of the bridge structural system, of structural details and of the construction process. The opinions on the structural system changed with development of the design methods. On the other hand, the advanced numerical tools are not able to replace the creativity of the designer.

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of significant UHPFRC structures built in the Czech Republic over the past decade. The use of precast UHPFRC elements in bridge construction has grown substantially during this period. The accumulated knowledge in design, production, and construction culminated in the publication of the new Czech standard, TP 267, in 2024.Additionally, this paper offers a brief insight into the research and development of this advanced composite material, tracing its progression from laboratory studies to real-world construction applications. Concrete examples illustrate this evolution, and upcoming projects, along with future visions for UHPFRC, are also discussed.

Abstract: Digitalisation of the construction sector is one of the priorities in the European Union and one of the main technologies used for this purpose is Building Information Modelling (BIM). An important advantage of BIM is that it enables management of information about the built environment through all phases of the asset lifecycle: procurement, design, construction, operation and maintenance. Major promotion for the use of BIM in construction projects in EU member countries comes from the EU directive on Public Procurement and many public investments are related to infrastructure projects, including bridges. Indeed, in some countries, for certain public projects it is now mandatory to use BIM. This paper focuses on the implementation of BIM for bridges, which was overall much slower than for buildings. Some of the differences between BIM for bridges and BIM for buildings are pointed out, as well as what is identified as major barriers for implementation of BIM in bridge projects. At the same time, there are significant advancements with respect to openness and standardization on the international level, which are essential for widespread and effective use. Several software developers have taken on the challenge to provide bridge BIM solutions, some with the intention of using a single model for both physical representation of a bridge in blueprints and analytical calculations to design and verify mechanical resistance of the structure. This paper uses one such example to discuss current possibilities, some of the great advantages this technology offers, but also potential problems in the bridge BIM modelling procedure, when BIM model is used for structural analysis.

Abstract: A modern „Building Information Modelling” – BIM technology is a subject of this conference paper. It is focused on BIM application in bridge and civil engineering. The computational examples presented in the paper are based on structures made of concrete. Results of BIM modelling together with FEM analyses are discussed. Presented structures’ models were prepared during university courses and as part of the international Erasmus+ project, leaded by several EU countries, in which both authors are involved. The overview of this project includes its objectives, achievements, outlining of new ideas and development of training methods.

Abstract: This paper presents the FLM71 fatigue loading model, which is suitable for fatigue assessment of bridge structures. The model is built in the form of a train set containing one locomotive and several wagons, corresponding to the equivalent load of railway bridge structures in the Czech Republic in a characteristic load combination. The model was designed on the basis of data on crossing of real train sets on several bridge structures of railway lines from different parts of the Czech Republic. The proposed model is then used in an analysis that compares the results of different methods of fatigue design of real bridge structures.

Abstract: Reliability assessments of concrete bridges are currently made using valid codes of practice based on the limit state concept. Verification may be carried out using the partial factor format or structural reliability methods. The reliability assessment should be made taking into account the service life of a structure, the selected reference period, and the changes in the environment of the structure and possibly anticipated changes in use. This contribution focuses on the verification of models for thermal actions for concrete bridges. An example of updating the design value and partial factor for thermal actions using site-specific measurements—shade air temperature measurements and on-bridge measurements—is developed. Two probabilistic models are employed to characterise annual extremes of ambient air temperatures and the effect of choice of the distribution on the partial factor for thermal actions is discussed. It appears that on-bridge measurements may significantly improve the model for both uniform temperature and temperature difference components in comparison to the EN 1991-1-5 model, with reduction of the design value up to 30% in the case study. A useful alternative for practical applications is to update thermal action effects using records from the nearest meteorological station (reduction about 20%). Using either meteorological or on-bridge measurements, the partial factor can be decreased to 1.2 for the uniform temperature component and to 1.3 for the difference temperature component. The choice of probabilistic distribution seems to be of low importance for the bridge under consideration. Further research should be mainly focused on investigating the effects of climate change and analysis of thermal action effects on different types of concrete bridges and bridges from other structural materials.

Abstract: Safety and sustainability of reinforced concrete bridges may be increased by observing their condition during operation and thus accurately predicting their behaviour under various load conditions. This can be achieved through a monitoring system and automatic error detection based on the measured data. By detecting potential issues early on, significant damages can be prevented before they occur. Despite extensive data collection from many monitored bridges, this data often remains unprocessed and uninformative in its raw form. We aim to transform this data into a format that can help to estimate a bridge’s health condition. This approach is presented through a case study of an existing reinforced concrete box girder bridge in Hungary. Digital twin (DT) technology was used to simulate the bridge’s behaviour and to verify structural conditions under any given traffic load arrangement. Static calculations and verification of load-bearing and serviceability conditions were performed on a validated 3D finite element (FE) model. Different traffic load scenarios were randomly generated using Monte Carlo simulation, and the bridge’s condition was evaluated for each case. The actual condition was quantified by parameters such as the bridge’s utilization for different USL and SLS limit values, especially for deflection and crack width. In the FE model, the physical characteristics that are recorded on the real bridge by the actual measuring instruments were also recorded at the locations corresponding to the monitoring points on the actual structure. The relationship between the virtual bridge’s condition and the virtual monitoring data was determined using artificial intelligence (AI) applications, particularly artificial neural networks (ANN). Based on this relationship, the monitoring data measured on the real bridge can be processed, and predictions about the bridge’s actual condition can be made to support maintenance and improve the safety and sustainability of the structure. This approach demonstrates the potential of DT and AI in structural health monitoring techniques.