05/07/2025

Under Tension – Load Tests in Bautzen

How can damage to bridges be identified early on, and which sensors provide the best results? These questions and more were addressed from May 5 to 7 in Bautzen. As part of the research project IDA-KI, the first damaging load tests took place at the openLAB research bridge.

Fig. 1: Joint research - the participants of the load tests in front of the openLAB (Photo: Stefan Gröschel)

After taking comprehensive reference measurements in an undamaged state, high loads were applied to the bridge to analyze the structural behavior up to the ultimate limit state. Additionally, tendons were intentionally cut at defined locations to verify the detection capabilities of various sensor types in realistic damage scenarios. Fifty experts from industry and research, as well as from different disciplines and European countries, were involved – including subprojects A02, B02|E02, B04, C02, C03|E03, C05, D03, and E01 of the SPP 100+.

Fig. 2: The bridge disappears into the multitude of sensor technology (Photo: Stefan Gröschel)

All measurement data will be publicly accessible for use by third parties in developing and validating methods for automated damage detection, for example. We thank the organizers of the experiment and look forward to analyzing the data to gain insights that will inform the future of bridge monitoring.