The 163 meter-long bridge is characterized by a continuous prestressed concrete superstructure and seven spans. (Image: Chair of Concrete Structures / TUM)
Research news - More traffic, heavier loads: When bridges in Germany over the age of 50 are evaluated according to current standards, calculations show that many of them theoretically have substantial deficiencies. Nevertheless many bridges exhibit no damage that confirms the calculated structural shortfalls. Engineers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are now working to explain this contradiction, conducting experiments on the transverse load bearing capacities of a real pre-stressed concrete bridge. Researchers had been looking for a bridge like this for a long time. The requirements were specific: It had to have been built before 1966, had to have as many spans as possible between the bridge piers, had to be easily accessible and of course had to already be out of service. The 60-year-old bridge over the Saale in Lower Franconia's Hammelburg fits this profile perfectly. Over the years the bridge exhibited more and more damage; renovation would not have been economically feasible.
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