Danube Bridge Research Articles

Quantitative Analysis of the Possible Sites of a New Danube Bridge to Bypass Budapest on Rail (Part 1)

Since 1920, almost all the traffic on rail crossing the Danube in Hungary, crosses it in Budapest via the Southern Railway Bridge which makes it heavily overloaded. This is a very disadvantageous situation not only for commercial shipping but also for military uses as there is certain heavy military equipment that can only be transported via rail.In our two-part article, we examine the locations of new bridges that could be alternatives to bypass Budapest and thus to reduce the traffic load on the railway lines of the capital. In this first part of our paper, we present the effect of a new Danube bridge as an alternative to the V0 railway line. We examine the possible sites of the bridge with several different route alternatives connecting it to the existing railway lines by using traffic simulation.

Quantitative Analysis of the Possible Sites of a New Danube Bridge to Bypass Budapest on Rail (Part 2)

Since 1920, almost all the traffic on rail crossing the Danube in Hungary, crosses it in Budapest via the Southern Railway Bridge which makes it overloaded. This is a very disadvantageous situation not only for commercial shipping but also for military uses as there is certain heavy military equipment that can only be transported via rail.In our two-part article, we examine the locations of new bridges that could be alternatives to bypass Budapest and thus to reduce the traffic load on the railway lines of the capital. In this second part, we examine the situation on the river Tisza by simulating the existence of several bridge alternatives, both newly built and developed existing ones. We also suggest a combined way of development to treat the capacity changes in the context of the whole network by building two new bridges, one on each river.

A26 Linzer Autobahn – Herausforderungen im Rückblick und Ausblick

AbstractAfter a long planning and approval phase, the main construction work on the A26 Linz motorway began at the beginning of 2019. The new A26 road section, large parts of which are underground, will not only significantly relieve the existing inner‐city traffic routes around Linz, but will also provide an additional Danube crossing in the form of a suspension bridge with a span of over 300 m. The main elements of the first Phase of construction are the Danube Bridge and two underground branches, north and south of the Danube, with excavated cross‐sections of up to 400 m2 and ramp tunnels with tight curves.The planning of an inner‐city construction project requires the comprehensive and careful consideration of the protection of the local residents with regard to the effects of noise and vibration. It also needs the impact of the construction work on the existing traffic routes to be reduced as much as possible. The material excavated from the Freinberg tunnel and the Danube South junction must be transported away via the Danube waterway. The project‐specific framework conditions, such as the very high number of tunnel portals, the sound reflections within the Danube valley and the low overburden require considerable measures to reduce their impact during the construction phase.

Language of Hate – Strategies for Manipulation: Discussion on Dunav Most / Serial Movie (1999) in Bulgarian Newspapers

The focus of the article is on the language of derogation and hate in Bulgarian news-papers published between 1990 and 2000. The study centers around one of the most famous and most discussed serial movies, “Dunav most” (The Danube Bridge). The 7-series visual project is based on Georgi Mishev’s novel and was sponsored by the Bul-garian National Television. Soon after the projection of the first episode started dis-cussion provoked by the most popular newspapers in the country, in which many jour-nalists, experts, political leaders, and citizens took part. The language of publications is a language of derogation and hate directed towards the movie and the “pornogra-phy” shown on it. So-called pornography is expressed in a few scenes with naked ac-tors and one – very popular and most argued - two men in a bed. One of them – a reli-gious man living in a monastery. Bulgarian newspapers manipulated the discussion pointing at that fact and hiding or diminishing the fact that this person had been an officer of former Secret services of the fallen totalitarian regime. The language of hate is paralleled with “the traditional Bulgarian values,” and in that way mass media present the distortion of a post-totalitarian society. Homosexuality is considered as a huge problem of the modern nation, and that is why it must be pointed at and rejected. This language, in fact, provokes readers’ emotions and turns aside attention from economic and social issues controlled by people of former totalitarian police.

A26 Linz motorway – Past and future challenges

AbstractAfter a long design and approval process, the construction works for the first phase of the A26 started in 2019. The A26 not only relieves the central part of the road network of the city of Linz but also allows the river Danube to be crossed by means of a bridge: a 300 m long bridge, anchored in the rock slopes forming the banks of the Danube. The elements of the first phase are the Danube bridge and the two underground motorway junctions, Danube North and South, with excavation cross‐sections of up to 400 m2 and the tight radii of the motorway on‐ramps. Besides these conditions, urban planning requirements such as the protection of residents against immissions caused by noise and vibration, and the increased negative impacts resulting from the traffic during construction have an effect on the construction works. The excavated material from the tunnel is transported off site by ship. The existing rock mass requires excavation by means of the drill‐and‐blast method. The project‐specific boundary conditions such as the high number of portals, the noise‐reflecting effect of the “Danube gorge” and the low overburden require substantial measures to limit and monitor the immissions.

Vibration Assessment of a New Danube Bridge at Komárom

In this paper the vortex induced vibration of a cable-stayed bridge with a main span of 252 m was studied at construction stages. Structural FEM and aerodynamic CFD models were made in order to calculate the vibration amplitude of this slender structure. The damping of the pure steel structure and the effect of the tuned mass dampers were measured through on-site vibration tests. Based on the validated structural dynamics model and the simulated aerodynamic parameters, the vortex induced vibration amplitudes were evaluated and compared with the monitoring data gained from accelerometers and wind sensors attached to the stiffening girder during the most critical construction period.

The Damage Suffered by Danube Bridges in Yugoslavia During the Twentieth Century

During the “short” twentieth century, the Yugoslav state on several occasions faced wars or conflicts in which it temporarily or permanently disappeared. The Second World War irrevocably destroyed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was occupied, fragmented, and came out of the war with a changed socio-political structure. When the fire of war spread again to Yugoslavia in April 1941, the Danube bridges were also damaged. They were destroyed by the Yugoslav army in an attempt to slow down the advance of German troops. At that time, the symbolic bridges of Belgrade and Novi Sad — the Bridge of King Peter the Second and the Bridge of Prince Tomislav — were destroyed. Temporary or rebuilt bridges were also damaged in the final phase of the war in 1944, either by Allied bombing raids or during the withdrawal of German troops, who demolished them in order to slow the invasion of the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Army and the Red Army. Half a century later, the bridges were damaged again. During the NATO aggression on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, the most important roads were also hit. Among others, several Danube bridges were damaged, including all three bridges in Novi Sad — Varadin Bridge, Žeželj’s Bridge, and the Bridge of Freedom. The Danube bridges in Yugoslavia shared the fate of the state that built them. They were demolished and rebuilt, and their story is a metaphor for the history of a country that no longer exists, and which once covered a significant part of the course of the Danube.

Die A26 Linzer Autobahn – Ein neues Wahrzeichen für Linz

AbstractThe A26 not only relieves the central part of the road network in Linz but also allows the river Danube to be crossed by means of a 300 m long bridge, anchored in the rock slopes which form the banks of the Danube. The elements of the 1st phase are the Danube bridge and two underground motorway junctions, Danube North and South, with excavation cross‐sections of up to 375 m2 and the tight radii of the motorway on‐ramps. In addition to the elevated location of the main portals, the river Danube, the infrastructure facilities and the built‐up area take space in the valley cause unfavourable conditions. Besides these conditions, urban planning requirements have an effect on the realization of the construction project. The excavated material from the tunnel is transported off‐site by ship. The project conditions such as the high number of portals, the noise‐reflecting effect of the ”Danube gorge“ and the low overburden require substantial measures to limit and monitor the immissions.

Comparative analyses of Roman mortars belonging to different ancient periods from Drobeta-Turnu Severin region

The main object of investigations in this work is the study of the various Roman mortars in Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania; the results help clarify the technology used for the construction of the studied sites through different thermoanalytical techniques. The first site encompasses the surviving elements of the Danube Bridge built by the Romans at the beginning of the second century AD to help in their conquest of Dacia. The aim is to establish the extent of similarity or difference between the studied samples. Thermal analysis and infrared spectroscopy are used in the study of different mortar samples. This paper highlights the compatibility of the techniques used: XRD for identifying major crystalline phases, FTIR for a more detailed image for the noncrystalline phase composition and TGA for a quantitative determination of volatile phases (especially CO2 and H2O). The analyses carried out on the mortar samples managed to divide the samples into different categories, obtaining very good correlations between the techniques used. The results also indicate that mortar samples from both the bridge and the Roman Castrum are within known values for Roman mortars.

The effect of attacks on the railway network of Hungary

Targeted attacks on the railway network of Hungary were modelled by using a weighted directed graph. Two attack strategies were analyzed, one based on the efficiency measure and one based on the betweenness centrality of the network elements. The results show that while the network elements with the most traffic make the efficiency to decrease the most, the network elements that make the efficiency to decrease the most are not always the busiest ones. The first network element to be destructed is always the Southern railway bridge (or its adjacent stations) at Budapest. The three Danube bridges become unusable in at most five steps. The next most endangered regions of the country to lose their railway connection to the rest of the network are the branch lines at Miskolc, and the three northeastern counties. As the national railway network is vital for the Hungarian Army, not only the protection of the highly threatened network elements is important but also the ability for their substitution which is mostly impossible due to the low ratio of electrified lines which implies the need for a larger fleet of diesel locomotives.

TG-DTA and FTIR analyses of roman and later historic mortars from Drobeta-Turnu Severin region

The study shows the analysis of the various Roman mortars in the survival structure of the Danube Bridge in Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, which is particularly relevant, and the results provided will help clarify the technology used for its construction through spectral, XRD and thermoanalytic techniques. It is intended to establish similarities or differences between the studied subjects. This paper highlights the complementary nature of the various techniques: XRD for the identification of major crystalline phases, FTIR for a more detailed evaluation of the composition comprising non-crystalline and TGA phase for the quantitative determination of volatile phases (especially CO2 and H2O).

Rehabilitation of historical bridges over the Danube in Budapest

ABSTRACT This article gives an overview on the rehabilitation of historical Danube bridges, which are located in the UNESCO World Heritage part of Budapest: Széchenyi chain bridge, Margaret bridge, Liberty bridge, and Elizabeth bridge. The bridges are briefly introduced and then their rehabilitations are presented. The special aspects of the design of reconstruction are shown. Site measurements and advanced studies, which supported the rehabilitation in the design and construction phase, are discussed in the case of the two recently reconstructed bridges and for one planned case, while, in the case of the Elizabeth bridge, the old and the new structures are introduced.

Szimbolikus ábrázolásokkal díszített urnák kisapostag-dunai-dűlőből

In 2004, the Intercisa Museum uncovered part of an Early and Middle Bronze Age cemetery at the Kisapostag bridgehead of the Danube bridge of the M8 Motorway. Two Early Bronze Age urns from the site are decorated with a design of various incised motifs. Over thirty years have elapsed since Rózsa Schreiber published her comprehensive overview and assessment of similar depictions in Archaeologiai Értesítő. These new finds differ from the earlier ones in several respects, offering an excellent opportunity for revisiting earlier theories.

Feasibility Study for New Danube Bridge in Paks, Hungary

As a part of the new Danube bridge project in the Baja – Kalocsa region the Government of Hungary ordered a feasibility study and location plan to prepare the new bridge investment. Primary goal of the feasibility study was to explore all requirements of the development and subsequent operation of the Paks City Nuclear Powerplant, and according to these suggestions - analyze the technical, environmental, social and economic aspects - to give proposals for the new place and structural system of the new bridge, and proposals for the indispensable implementation of the transport network elements necessarily needed. The key task of the feasibility study was to investigate, and compare the possible structural systems at the chosen location, and to define the optimal variant – for further developments until the level of permition plan. The optional structural system is highly influenced by the possible spans, which is primarily specified by water management and shipping management criteria, so these conditions were basic parameters at each variants. The following structural system variants were elaborated and investigated in the study plans: girder bridge, cable-stayed bridge, truss bridge, extradosed bridge and arch bridge. The building system, possible special building technology needs, estimated building time, estimated costs of maintenance and operation, and the aesthetics of the designed bridge were taken into consideration at the comparison of the structural systems. Because of the simplicity of construction method, advanced technology and aesthetic appearance, the extradosed bridge were preferred with 200+220+200 m inner spans for implementation. When making the feasibility study, one of the Client's requirements was to invest the economical railway connection of the nearby power plant through the bridge, that's why economical alternatives were presented for possible railway line realizations on the structure. The paper mentions the design parameters, the advantages and disadvantages of the presented concepts in the feasibility study. It presents the difficulties and solutions during design and construction phase.

Facelift of Danube Bridge in Bratislava

Facelift of the famous Danube Bridge in Bratislava appears as significant topic in present time. Suggested is an attractive structure below the skew pylon made of lamina-ted wood located on steel cantilevers welded on triangle-shaped support of the bridge and surfaced by thin aluminium sheets. Some problems of such structural launch are presented and discussed below.

Loading Test of the Rákóczi Danube Bridge in Budapest

In frame of the tramway network development in Budapest a new tramway line has been established on the south part of Budapest, which crosses the Danube on the Rákóczi-bridge. The bridge superstructure is a continuous double-cell steel box girder having 6 spans with the largest span of 98.52 m. The bridge was originally designed to carry four traffic and two tramway lanes, however the tramway line was only built on the bridge in 2015 and opened for the traffic with an increased tramway load level than originally planned. Related to this tramway network development the required static calculations and the loading test of the Rákóczi-bridge was executed by the BME Department of Structural Engineering. A complex loading test program was developed to check the static and dynamic behaviour of the bridge structure using 20 trucks and 4 trams having the total weight of 1040 tons. The loading test program involved local and global loading conditions investigating the local and global structural behaviour of the bridge under the combined effect of the truck and tramway loads. An extended dynamic loading test program was also carried out to investigate the dynamic behaviour of the bridge under the trucks and tramways separately. The current paper focuses on the results of this complex loading test program.

Structural Health Monitoring of Major Danube Bridges in Bratislava

The paper presents some of the intermediate results obtained in the framework of the research program APVV No. 0236-12 granted by the Slovak Research and Development Agency entitled “Bridge Structural Health Monitoring via Repeated Dynamic Tests”.The paper describes initial structural health monitoring (SHM) tests of the Port Bridge and of the Slovak National Uprising Bridge across the Danube River in Bratislava, Slovakia. The first one is a highway and railway continuous steel truss bridge with 4 spans and a total length of 460.8 meters (largest span 240.8 m). The second one is an asymmetric cable-stayed steel bridge with an orthotropic 2-box beam supported in one plane by cables from an inclined pylon. The total length is 431.8 meters (largest span 303 m). The paper is aimed at different topics: the description of the test setups, the measuring accelerometer polygons synchronized by Wi-Fi connection, synchronization of the video footage with the measurements, etc. Some natural frequencies and mode shapes have been identified from the operational modal analyses.

Dynamic Deformation Monitoring of Bridge Structure

Abstract Building structures are extremely sensitive at influence of outdoor conditions. Most often these are the influence of wind, sunshine, temperature changes of the surrounding and at least the influence of the own or other loading. According to resonance of the structure with the surrounding is coming to vibration and oscillation in relative high frequency interval (0.1 Hz - 100.0 Hz). These phenomena significantly affect the static and dynamic characteristics of structures, their safety and functionality. The paper brings example of monitoring these phenomena. The object of monitoring is the Danube Bridge Apollo in Bratislava, which main steel structure was measured by acceleration sensors with frequency up to10 Hz. The main topic of the paper is the analysis of dynamic behavior of structure using spectral analysis method. The usage of Fourier Transform is described, own frequencies and amplitudes of structure oscillation are calculated.

Potential of terrestrial laserscanning in load test measurements of bridges

The state-of-the-art geodetic and remote sensing techniques can prove their potential through particular engineering applications. Besides the traditional surveying terrestrial laserscanning broadens its application field in civil engineering projects. The Department of Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics has long experience in the measurement methods, accuracy analysis and applications of terrestrial laserscanning. This paper deals with the potential of the technology through the examples of load test measurements of Danube bridges. Prior to the particular bridge surveying projects accuracy analysis has been carried out in laboratory measurements, the results validated the accuracy and reliability of the laserscanned data. The paper discusses the complex measurement procedure, the main steps of the data processing and results. Remote sensing can provide data about specific (e.g. with limited accessibility) areas of the structure that cannot be measured with traditional techniques during the short period of the load test measurements. The post-processing includes comparison analysis using ground-based geodetic measurements (such as high precision leveling) as reference in defining displacements. By computing the accuracy measures of the terrestrial laserscanning the overall technology can be qualified and calibrated.

Dunaujvaros Danube Bridge: Construction, Design and Research

As a part of an extensive highway development program in Hungary a new Danube bridge is under construction in Dunaujvaros, about 70 km south of Budapest. The 1676.8 m bridge will be completed in the autumn of 2006. The main part of the bridge is a basket handle type tied arch bridge with a span of 307.8 m. The geometrical size, structural solutions and erection method of the bridge required preliminary research and advanced design methodology. This paper gives a general outline of the bridge construction and emphasizes some of the design and research aspects of the arch bridge. (A)