Static and dynamic behaviours of an 85-year-old steel railway bridge

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Abstract
This paper presents the results of an investigation regarding the static and dynamic behaviours of a railway bridge being in service for more than 85 years. The age of the bridge and the recent introduction of a new type of freight train to operate at high speeds (above 95 km/h) made the bridge testing necessary. A full-scale railway bridge test is a complex and expensive undertaking involving cooperation of various departments in a railway organization. This fact limits this type of bridge evaluation to a few very important cases each year. A computerized data acquisition system permitted recording strains and deflections from 21 strain gauge circuits and 6 displacement transducers. A special test train was used to study the behaviour of the bridge under controlled loads and speeds. Measurements were also carried out for regular traffic (passenger and freight trains). This paper covers the following topics: (i) instrumentation and test loads; (ii) test results (static and dynamic stresses and deflections); (iii) comparisons of measured static stresses and deflections with theoretical values; and (iv) dynamic characteristics of the tested span (influence of train speed on stresses, deflections, and lateral forces). Key words: bridge, data acquisition, impact factors, strains, strain gauges, testing, test loads, vibrations.

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