Recalculation of existing road bridges on the basis of load models deduced from measurements

Various questions that emerged during the assessment of existing road bridges prompted comprehensive investigations involving measurements and calculations at altogether four constructions. In this article the findings related to traffic induced fatigue stress are presented and the development of a procedure based on measurements to deduce characteristic traffic loads for the structural safety analysis is described. Moreover a proposal is made on how existing bridge constructions could be assessed more precisely within the framework of the relevant German recalculation guideline.