The Section for Bridges and Other Civil Engineering Structures

  • provides technical and expert support in the field of bridges and other civil engineering structures, including power plants and industrial structures
  • performs tests both in the laboratory and in the field
  • co-operates with the managers of bridges as well as of other civil engineering structures, including power plants and industrial facilities
  • performs measurements and analyses of vibrations in the case of residential buildings and engineering structures
  • performs weigh-in-motion tests and the modelling of traffic loadings
  • co-operates with international partners

Activities:

  • static and dynamic laboratory tests:
    • of elements of structures (with lengths up to 30 m and loads up to 6000 kN) in the case of short-term and long-term loadings;
    • of reinforced and unreinforced elastomeric, sliding and pot bearings;
    • of expansion joints;
  • field tests:
    • loading tests of bridges and other engineering structures;
    • detailed inspections of industrial and power supply structures;
    • regular, main and detailed inspections of bridges with relevant tests;
    • measurements of vibrations in the case of residential buildings, industrial buildings, and the infrastructure;
    • technical monitoring of engineering structures;
  • traffic load modelling for assessments of the safety of existing bridges and for the analysis of traffic load effects on pavements,
  • planning and establishment of monitoring systems and the implementation of methods for determining the condition of bridges;
  • coordination and participation in international and Slovenian research projects in the field of the safety and durability of bridges, and weigh-in-motion;
  • co-operation with universities and research institutes in Slovenia and abroad.

Research and development

With regard to research work the Section concentrates on the following fields:

  • the safety and durability of bridges;
  • weigh-in-motion,
  • development of software for:
    • weighing vehicles in motion (SiWIM®),
    • modelling traffic load effects for pavement and bridge structures,
    • condition assessment of bridges,
    • acquisition and processing of the results of vibration measurements.

Fields of research

Safety and durability of bridges

The Sections’ research work includes the development and continuous updating of methods for determining the safety and durability of bridges, which is being introduced to the everyday practice of managers of the road infrastructure. These methods are based on the latest state-of-the-art and emphasize the effectiveness of the selected analytical procedures and proposed rehabilitation measures for bridges, which potentially lead to significant time and cost savings. Research is performed into:

  • the processes involved in the degradation of bridges and (other) engineering structures, and their effect on structural safety,
  • the effects and use of realistic static and dynamic traffic loadings in structural assessments,
  • the actual behaviour of bridges under traffic loadings,
  • the reserves in the load-carrying capacity of bridges.

The Slovenian weigh-in-motion system SiWIM®

The Slovenian weigh-in-motion system SiWIM® is used in more than 20 countries on 4 continents. The strains measured on existing instrumented bridges are transformed, by means of complex algorithms, into the total masses, axial loads, and axle spacings of the vehicles causing these strains. In co-operation with the firm Cestel d.o.o. the Section continues to develop algorithms and procedures for weighing in order to improve the reliability and accuracy of measurements so that the SiWIM® system can be used over an ever wider spectrum of road and railway bridges of all structural types.

Memberships of international associations:

  • IABMAS – the International Association for Bridge Management and Safety
  • PIARC – the World Road Association
  • COST TC1402 and TC1406
  • ISWIM – the International Society for Weigh-in-Motion
  • The Slovenian Chamber of Engineers
PIARC – the World Road Association
COST TC1402 and TC1406

Selected projects

  • Re-gen “Risk Assessment of Aging Infrastructure”, CEDR transnational project, 2014-2016
  • Performance of main and detailed inspections on the Slovenian Motorway Network, 1991-2015, DARS – the Motorway Company in the Republic of Slovenia
  • Assessment of the level of damage to bridges in the municipality of Kamnik, Municipality of Kamnik, 2015
  • BRIDGEMON “Bridge Monitoring”, EU FP7, 2012-2014, management of work package
  • Determination of the safety of bridge structures on the state roads of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian Roads Agency, 2008-2014
  • TRIMM “Tomorrow’s Road Infrastructure Monitoring & Management”, EU FP7, 2011-2014, management of 2 work tasks
  • Recalculation if traffic loads due to trailers with varying axle spacings, Slovenian Roads Agency, 2012
  • ERA-NET Road II – “Coordination of National and Regional Road Research Programmes and Policies”, EU 7FP, 2009-2011, management of work package
  • HEROAD “Holistic Evaluation of Road Assessment”, Eranet Road project, 2010-2013, management of work package
  • PROCROSS “Development of Procedures for Cross Asset Management Optimisation”, Eranet Road project, 2010-2012, management of work package
  • CERTAIN “Central European Research in Transport Infrastructure”, EU FP7, 2006-2010, co-ordination of the project
  • TRA2008 “Transport Research Arena 2008”, EU FP7, 2007-2008, co-ordination of the project
  • ARCHES “Advanced Rehabilitation of Central European Highway Structures”, EU FP7, 2007-2010, co-ordination of the project
  • Establishment of a methodology for determining and verifying the load-carrying capacity of structures on the state roads of Slovenia, Slovenian Roads Agency, 2010
  • NR2C “New Road Construction Concepts”, EU FP6, 2004-2007, co-ordination of the partners – members of FEHRL
  • Increasing the accuracy of WIM measurements on structures, Slovenian Roads Agency, 2005-2006
  • SAMARIS “Sustainable and Advanced Materials for Road INfraStructure”, EU FP5, 2003-2006, scientific co-ordinator and management of work package
  • COST 345 “Procedures for Assessing Highway Structures”, 2000-2003, assistant co-ordinator and head of work package
  • INTERREG II Italia-Slovenia “Traffic Induced Vibrations in Urban Areas”, 2001-2002
  • WAVE “Weighing-in-motion of Axles and Vehicles for Europe”, EU FP4, 1998-2002
  • BRIME “Bridge Management in Europe””, EU FP4, 1998-2001
  • COST 323 “Weigh-in-motion of Road Vehicles”, 1995-2001

Publications

  • GONZALEZ, Arturo, DOWLING, Jason, O’BRIEN, Eugene J., ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš. Testing of a bridge weigh-in-motion algorithm utilising multiple longitudinal sensor locations. J. test. eval., sep. 2012, vol. 40, issue 6, str. 1-14, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1938535]
  • GONZALEZ, Arturo, O’BRIEN, Eugene J., CANTERO, Daniel, YINGYANG, Li, DOWLING, Jason, ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš. Critical speed for the dynamics of truck events on bridges with a smooth road surface. J. Sound Vib., maj 2010, vol. 329, iss. 11, str. 2127-2146, doi: doi:10.1016/j.jsv.2010.01.002. [COBISS.SI-ID 1578599]
  • O’BRIEN, Eugene J., RATTIGAN, Paraic, GONZALEZ, Arturo, DOWLING, Jason, ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš. Characteristic dynamic traffic load effects in bridges. Eng. struct.. [Print ed.], jul. 2009, vol. 31, no. 7, str. 1607-1612, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1578343]
  • ROWLEY, Cillian W., O’BRIEN, Eugene J., GONZALEZ, Arturo, ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš. Experimental testing of a moving force identification bridge weigh-in-motion algorithm. Exp. mech., oct. 2009, vol. 49, no. 5, str. 743-746, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1578087]
  • ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš, PAKRASHI, Vikram, O’BRIEN, Eugene J., O`CONNOR, Alan. A review of road structure data in six European countries. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Urban design and planning. [Print ed.], avg. 2011, vol. 164, issue 4, str. 225-232, doi: 10.1680/udap.900054. [COBISS.SI-ID 1833831]
  • O`BRIEN, Eugene, ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš, BRADY, Ken, GONZALES, Arturo, O`CONNOR, Alan. Procedures for the assessment of highway structures. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng., Transp.. [Print ed.], 2005, vol. 158, iss. TR1, str. 17-25. [COBISS.SI-ID 1330279]
  • ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš, LAVRIČ, Igor, KALIN, Jan, KRESLIN, Maja. Using strips to mitigate the multiple-presence problem of BWIM systems. V: JACOB, Bernard (ur.). International Conference on Heavy Vehicles ICWIM 6 : [Dallas, Texas, June 4 – 7, 2012]. London: ISTE; Hoboken: Wiley, 2012, str. 89-98, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1950823]
  • ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš, KRESLIN, Maja, LAVRIČ, Igor, KALIN, Jan. Modelling traffic loads on bridges – a simplified approach using bridge WIM measuremnts. V: JACOB, Bernard (ur.). International Conference on Heavy Vehicles ICWIM 6 : [Dallas, Texas, June 4 – 7, 2012]. London: ISTE; Hoboken: Wiley, 2012, str. 418-428, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1950567]
  • ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš, LAVRIČ, Igor, KALIN, Jan. Latest practical development in the WIM technology. V: FRANGOPOL, Dan M. (ur.). Bridge maintenance, safety and management and life-cycle optimization : proceedings of the Fifth International conference on bridge maintenance, safety and management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 11-15 July 2010. Boca Raton [etc.]: CRC Press, cop. 2010, str. 993-1000, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1847911]
  • ŽNIDARIČ, Aleš, LAVRIČ, Igor. Applications of B-WIM technology to bridge assessment. V: FRANGOPOL, Dan M. (ur.). Bridge maintenance, safety and management and life-cycle optimization: proceedings of the Fifth International conference on bridge maintenance, safety and management, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 11-15 July 2010. Boca Raton [etc.]: CRC Press, cop. 2010, str. 1001-1008, ilustr. [COBISS.SI-ID 1848167]

Head of the Section:
dr. Andrej Anžlin
PhD
e-mail: andrej.anzlin@zag.si
Phone: 01 280 44 03