Short Bio
Aleš Žnidarič received his PhD at the University of Ljubljana. He is the current director of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, the president of the Brussels-based Forum of European National Highway Laboratories, a board member of the International Society for Weigh-In-Motion ISWIM, and a member of several national and international committees. He has over 35 years of experience in the condition and safety assessment of bridges, bridge loading, weigh-in-motion (WIM), and bridge monitoring. He has contributed to or led many national and international research projects. He was a member of the team that developed the national bridge inspection and condition assessment methodology and led the projects that developed the national bridge safety assessment methodology and bridge weigh-in-motion technology.
Abstract
Bridge management can be significantly enhanced using Bridge Weigh-In-Motion data. This data provides accurate information on the status of bridges, enabling the optimal balance between maintenance costs, potential risks, and overall bridge performance. One of the main bridge performance indicators is their structural safety, which requires in-depth knowledge of traffic loads and bridge resistance to that load. Such assessment is primarily needed for ageing deteriorated bridges near the end of their life cycle. Their structural safety is often difficult to prove with only the traditional analytical methods. Therefore, it is beneficial to use structural and material testing to avoid costs for unnecessary remedial actions, such as strengthening or even replacing a bridge.
Bridge weigh-in-motion technology can measure the traffic loadings parameters, such as axle loads and spacings of heavy goods vehicles, and several critical structural parameters needed for optimal bridge safety assessment: influence lines, girder distribution and dynamic amplification of traffic loads. Knowing the actual bridge performance under traffic loading allows the bridge engineer to finetune the structural model used in safety assessment and significantly reduce uncertainties associated with the load effects. Furthermore, having measured, not assumed, data reduces the risks used in the analyses. The benefits of this approach are particularly evident on shorter, older, and potentially deteriorated bridges, in which structural components, like bearings and expansion joints, do not perform according to the design assumptions.
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