Diagnostics of an Existing Cable-Stayed Bridge by Means of the Dynamic Load Test

Abstract

The cable-stayed bridge at the inner ring road in Prague in the Czech Republic was put into operation in 1997. In 2008 a crack was found in the bridge structure area where the end beam was connected with the upper deck of the box section and where the bridge expansion joint system was anchored. The basic objective of diagnostic works, which were started immediately after the finding of the crack, was obtaining the basis for bridge structure modifications, among other things, to prevent formation of similar damages in the future. A series of diagnostic methods was used for determination of the bridge actual state and the real static and dynamic bridge behavior. One of these methods was the dynamic load test. It was focused on an examination of the bridge forced vibration which was caused by dynamic effects of a usual traffic flow. An arrangement of the test was not quite usual because the experiment was concentrated on dynamic behaviour of bridge support areas especially. The abutment area, the pylon area and the area of a pillar with the bearing with a tensile structural element were observed on the investigated bridge. The dynamic load test was performed in two stages. The first stage was focused on investigation of bridge dynamic behaviour in original structural conditions and on obtaining the basis for design of bridge adjustments. The second stage was realized after bridge reconstruction in December 2012 and verified the effectiveness of bridge modifications.