Geschichtliche Entwicklung und aktuelle Praxis der Probebelastung [Teil 2]

Historical Development and current practise of load tests in situ — Part 2: Development of standards and current practise.

Because of the large demand and use of load testing in the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, there was the necessity to standardise the planning, execution and analysis in general guidelines and codes.
This article describes the struggling and first tentative specification, which were more and more specified to an useful basis in the following years. The used criterions for the assessment have often been a reason for critics on the value and the safety of loading tests.
The further development of calculation methods especially the computer technology made the load testing of new structures superfluous in the 1970s. But for existing structures loading tests are today often a — and sometimes the only — method to proof a sufficient load bearing capacity. The today used modern loading- and measuring technology provides, in contrast to the traditional method, a high degree of safety and structural information.