Sustainable Bridges

No ‘bridge is too far’ for an

-backed consortium of surface-transport specialists investigating ways to build and renovate railway bridges to meet growing transport demands and, at the same time, allay concerns about sustainable construction in the sector.

Faster and bigger trains running more and more services on busier routes are on the horizon. But many existing railway bridges are ageing. To investigate the safety of these bridges and help the EU meet the growing surface transport demands, the Commission is funding a project to develop methods to better utilise the capacity of the existing infrastructure, and to come up with more efficient maintenance practices.

Thirty partners across Europe are taking part in an EU-funded project, called ‘Sustainable Bridges’, which will, among other things, monitor railway bridges electronically, carry out fatigue testing on steel-reinforced concrete bridges and assess future traffic demands and how to lengthen bridge life.

Many of Europe’s rail bridges are old and in poor condition, which poses a major problem for rail-system operators. But with improved monitoring and maintenance, expensive renovation work could be avoided, which saves money and has potential environmental benefits.