TU Dresden INSTITUT FÜR MASSIVBAU

Load tests on the Nibelungen Bridge

From November 19th to 21st, 2025, load tests were conducted on the Nibelungen Bridge. The tests investigated the static and dynamic behavior of the structure under defined loads.

Prior to the tests, a “jour fixe” meeting on the digital preservation of the Nibelungen Bridge was held on November 19. During the meeting, Andreas Jackmuth (LBM Worms), Chris Voigt (MKP GmbH), and Chongjie Kang (TU Dresden) reported on the current status of the investigations on the bridge from the perspectives of road administration, engineering firm, and research. Afterwards, participants had the opportunity to visit the bridge’s box girder and inspect the installed sensor systems.

Figure 1: Chongjie Kang presents results from the SPP 100+ (Photo: Cedric Eisermann)

At 7 p.m., the actual load tests began: Four 30-ton trucks were driven over the bridge in different positions while its static and dynamic structural behavior was continuously measured. Projects from the SPP 100+ research program were also involved. The University of Duisburg-Essen and TU Dresden supported the test planning with numerical simulations, and RWTH Aachen tested an innovative DFOS patch for measuring 2D strain fields on the bridge.

Figure 2: View of the load vehicles (Photo: Bjarne Sprenger)

We would like to thank LBM Worms, MKP, and Eiffage for their excellent organization of the load tests and the supporting program.