Experimental Analysis of Historical Metal Railway Bridges: A Review

Abstract

This paper deals with the experimental analysis of historical steel railway bridges, including the analysis of existing bridges performed in the last decades, derived from a comprehensive literature review. Many of the old railway bridges, which exists in Europe and around the world, are of riveted construction. These bridges were constructed during the second half of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, using mainly wrought iron and older steels. The continuously increasing loads and speeds during the last century, implies that these bridges are close to, or have already exceeded their design fatigue lives. Despite this, many of these are still in use appearing able to cope with current loading demands. Therefore, a comprehensive fatigue assessment methodology for riveted railway bridges becomes relevant in order to assure their safety and to prevent expensive cost of replacements. In this paper a comprehensive analysis of the literature is reviewed according to current knowledge on the matter, mainly dealing with experimental and theoretical analysis.