Performance Assessment of a Newly Constructed Skewed Half-Through Railway Bridge Using Integrated Sensing

Abstract

Half-through steel plate girder bridges are widely used across the U.K.'s railway network. However, very few studies have investigated their real in-service behaviour. Concurrently, the use of advanced sensor systems, such as those utilizing fibre-optic sensors, have begun to find widespread use in structural health monitoring due to their high accuracy and long-term stability and durability. In this paper, the real performance of a newly constructed skewed half-through plate girder railway-bridge was assessed through the use of an integrated fiber optic monitoring system installed during the bridges' construction. Monitoring data recorded during the passage of 12 separate trains consisted of strains measured along the lengths of the main steel plate girders and cross beams. On the basis of available design and construction information, a 3-D finite element model capable of simulating the railway bridge's response was constructed and used to investigate and provide comparisons with monitoring results of the performance of such bridges under passing trains. The influence of track cant on load distribution between the two main girders was discussed, and the live load utilisation percentage of the main girders was estimated to be approximately 37% of its design capacity. In addition, the effect of different transverse cross beam end-connection details (pinned or moment connected) and the influence of axle load distribution through track ballast on the overall Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript manuscript.docx response of the bridge structure were evaluated. The results obtained in this study have not only led to the establishment of a comprehensive performance baseline for the newly constructed bridge for long-term condition monitoring, but also may be used for improving both the design and in-service structural evaluation of such bridges.

Condition Monitoring of Rail Transport Systems: A Bibliometric Performance Analysis and Systematic Literature Review

“…Facilities other than bogies and tracks in the railway vehicle train need condition monitoring as well. Lin et al [ 306 ] analyzed railway bridges; the authors assessed a skewed half-through plate girder railway bridge with the use of a fiber-optic-sensor -based ( fiber optics ) monitoring system installed directly on a bridge during its construction. The authors analyzed and evaluated the impact of axle load distribution through the evaluation of track ballast specially allocated along the bridge structure.…”

Experimental Study on Steel–Concrete Composite Twin I-Girder Bridges

“…Cross beams are important members in multi-main-girder bridges to prevent the buckling of the main girders and for load redistribution between main girders (Lin et al, 2019). In twin girder bridges, however, the effectiveness of cross beams is not clear, and their behavior is still not well defined.…”

A Digital Twin of Bridges for Structural Health Monitoring

“…The performance of IB5, both during construction and in operation, was investigated through numerical (finite element) modeling which was validated using sensor data [5], [6]. A 3D FE model was constructed incorporating solid, shell and rebar elements, with the consideration of time-dependent concrete properties, staged construction and torsional effects due to the skewed bridge geometry.…”

“…The case study considered two railway bridges in Staffordshire, UK which have pervasive sensor networks installed at the time of construction. The study involves an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) and the Alan Turing Institute (ATI), combining the expertise of bridge monitoring [4], finite element modeling [5], [6], building information modeling (BIM) [7], [8] and statistical modeling [9], [10], with the end objective of creating a working digital twin for the instrumented Staffordshire bridges.…”