Determination of the load-bearing capacity of bridges

Project duration: 1.10.2014 to 31.5.2016

Investigations to assess the shear load-bearing capacity of reinforced concrete slab bridges without shear reinforcement (stirrups) from the 1940s to 1990s on the basis of probabilistic approaches

There are numerous reinforced concrete bridges in the ÖBB railway network that were built between 1940 and 1990 on plate girders without shear reinforcement (stirrups), whose shear load-bearing capacity can hardly be verified according to current Eurocodes. The FH Campus Wien is developing new standardisation approaches and methods for this.

Plate girders without shear reinforcement have been less researched to date. However, studies on the state of preservation and the associated operational safety of the bridges are worthwhile, as they represent an extensive asset. In order to be able to reliably assess the load-bearing behaviour of reinforced concrete slab bridges or similar cross-sections with edge beams, it is necessary to develop extended and verified methods based on different standard approaches and investigations. The results should be incorporated into the revision of ONR 24008 for the recalculation of existing road and railway bridges.

• Recording, clustering and recalculation of existing properties
• Probabilistic calculation according to Eurocode 0
• Proposal for the extension of the recalculation

ÖBB Infra AG

Structural Engineering

Since 1 August 2020, five interdisciplinary research areas have replaced existing research fields.