Bridges and heavy goods traffic - where are the limits?

Highways and federal roads will also in the future remain to be the most important part of the traffic infrastructure for the transport of persons and goods over long distances. According to all forecasts, it is expected that particularly the amount of freight traffic will continue to increase strongly over the next years. Recent studies have shown that the existing older bridges in our traffic networks will not be able to stand up to the resulting increase in traffic loads. This is because the original reserves in the design regarding the bearing capacity and durability of older bridges gradually have been exhausted by the increasing numbers and weights of freight trucks. This means that in order to keep our road network safe and available for future traffic loads, a considerable part of the existing bridges will have to be strengthened or renewed within a medium-term timeframe. In the paper, the background of this issue will be highlighted and the necessary consequences will be presented.