Measurement Points for Civil Engineering Structures in theOffenen Digitalen Testfeld

Railway infrastructures are designed for long-term use and can remain in service for decades with appropriate maintenance. Over time, however, operational conditions change, particularly regarding the original design and construction standards. Increased traffic density and altered environmental conditions due to climate change pose challenges for predicting remaining service life and assessing load-bearing behavior.

Objective

To address these challenges, the project is developing a comprehensive measurement data foundation for railway bridges that takes into account both operational and environmental influences. Over a period of several years, data will be collected, automatically transmitted, processed, evaluated, and analyzed at three measurement sites.

The collected data will provide deeper insights into the load-bearing and fatigue behavior of bridges. In doing so, the project makes a substantial contribution to ensuring the intended service life and promoting the sustainable use of these structures. Given the large number of existing railway bridges, extending their service life significantly supports climate protection efforts.