This majestic railway bridge over the river Rhine in Switzerland was built in the years 1895-1897. A number of arches with piers reaching up to 50 meter above ground made of masonry makes up the side-spans. The midspan is a riveted steel truss with span 50 meter and height 9 meter, which is the structure of concern in this case study. The bridge has a significant heritage value.
Object description
This majestic railway bridge over the river Rhine in Switzerland was built in the years 1895-1897. A number of arches with piers reaching up to 50 meter above ground made of masonry makes up the side-spans. The midspan is a riveted steel truss with span 50 meter and height 9 meter, which is the structure of concern in this case study. The bridge has a significant heritage value.
Civil engineering type
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Year of construction
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1897
Composed of materials
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Location coordinates
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47° 34' 38.57" N, 8° 30' 35.79" E
Country
:
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Object analysis
A fatigue assessment was carried out by using monitoring data of strain at critical details, along with historic traffic records and future expected change in traffic loading. The fatigue analysis was done in two steps, first a fatigue limit verification and if exceeded, a Palmgren-Miner damage accumulation verification. Instead of applying partial safety factors, the safety criterion was set to damage value 0.5, where damage value 1 corresponds to failure. It was concluded that the fatigue reliability is sufficient for the next 50 years. The most critical detail was identified to be the first diagonals closest to the supports, and by rehabilitating these elements the fatigue life can be further elongated. The analysis was carried out according to the Swiss standards for assessment of existing structures from 2011.
Object state
The concern for the riveted steel truss was fatigue related as the structure was well above 100 years old, although no visible damage was detected. Monitoring with strain gauges at fatigue prone locations was carried out for one year. The measurement system was verified and the structural model was calibrated through load testing with known axle loads.
Observed deterioration processes
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Observed damage types
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Performance indicators
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Deformation, Dynamic response (acceleration/damping/frequencies)
Images
(No images available for this case study.)
Documents
This case study was contributed by Frida Liljefors of Norwegian University Of Science And Technology. Last edited by technical staff.
