Haringvliet Bridge recalculation and reinforcement design

Many steel bridges in the Netherlands built around the 1960s are reaching the end of their design lives. This is certainly the case for the Haringvliet Bridge. Here we are performing a reassessment in cooperation with Rijkswaterstaat and TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), as part of a research project. This will show whether the bridge can be maintained for a period of 30 years and, if so, what reinforcement measures are required.

The Haringvliet Bridge, with 11 fixed spans and a total length of 1,150 metres, is on the A29 motorway and crosses the Haringvliet inlet. The A29 is an important connection between the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. This causes high traffic density. The assessments are performed using Finite Element Models. The bridge will be tested for strength and stability on the basis of these models. A fatigue assessment will also be performed to see if the bridge can last another 30 years, and what reinforcement is needed to prevent damage.

Sensors were placed on the bridge to check the results of the models. The data from the sensors was used to check whether the assessment models produced the same results as the sensors. The data is also used to determine whether the actual traffic load matches the standard load. Carrying out this project lets us contribute to broad knowledge development, keeping the many steel infrastructures in the Netherlands available sustainably and safely.

^{photo: Marie-Louise Greymans}