Maintenance repair by welding of badly-corroded railway bridge

Abstract

Remedial repairs were carried out on a railway bridge with severe corrosion damage to its steelwork as part of a project to open the passage of freight trains to a railway line in the Upper Silesia region in southern Poland. The bridge was constructed in 1907, using rimmed mild steel for the riveted plate girder superstructures . While the bridge retrofitting plan was being drawn up, the chemical composition of its structural steel members was assessed, and the ste el'' s weldability was confirmed via tensile tests and carbon equivalents. The existing steelwork was strengthened by restoring section losses in the main girders and end cross beams. The stnuctural integrity of the badly-corroded steelwork was recovered, allowing the return of both freight and passenger trains to the railway line.