Digital Life‐Cycle and Asset‐Management for Steel Bridges

(Steel) bridges have well‐known issues with regard to fatigue problems causing a lot of the existing infrastructure to be urgently being strengthened or even being replaced. To supervise and investigate all bridges it is state of the art that on a regular basis these bridges have to be inspected by experts (German DIN 1076). In particular with regard to those already known issues a research consortium has set up a collaborative research project together with partners from the road authorities with the aim to provide a data system for an asset‐management for such bridges.

The partners and road authorities have selected some typical bridges with regard to those particular structural details:

• Cluster 1: „Coupling joints“ (Pretensioned Concrete bridges)

• Cluster 2: „Orthotropic steel decks“

• Cluster 3: „Hangers/Cables“ (Suspension bridges and steel arch bridges)

This contribution will demonstrate that for six selected bridges of cluster 2 and 3 RWTH Aachen has developed detailed numerical models, investigated those critical details with regard to fatigue and proposed monitoring specifications.

The relevant design checks of those critical details follow the design rules (in particular fatigue load model 3 of Eurocode) and with the installation of those monitoring concepts the evaluation of the fatigue critical details can be matched using hotspot analysis.