The HTWK Leipzig, in cooperation with the Saxony-Anhalt State Road Construction Authority and the TU Braunschweig, carried out a large-scale experiment on structural health monitoring at the Flossgraben Bridge near Zeitz. The experiment, which was carried out from September 10 to 12, 2024, served to test and further develop new monitoring methods.

A modular monitoring system developed by the Institute of Statics, Structural Dynamics and System Identification (I4S) at HTWK Leipzig was installed in all seven spans of the bridge. In order to plan the study, simulations and preliminary experimental tests were carried out in advance (for more information, see here).

On the first day of the test, reference measurements were taken to record the undisturbed properties of the bridge. On the second day, three road maintenance vehicles with a total weight of 39 tons were positioned in span 4 to apply targeted loads to disturb the bridge structure. These simulated reversible changes in the structure in order to analyze the behavior under different loads. On the third day, the vehicles were moved to span 3 to carry out comparative measurements. The detailed measurements provided valuable data on the response of the bridge to these loads under ambient excitation. This data will now be analyzed to gain well-founded insights into the methods used for condition assessment.

In addition to the HTWK Leipzig and the Saxony-Anhalt State Road Construction Authority, the TU Braunschweig, represented by the Photogrammetric Institute and the Institute of Flight Guidance, was also involved in the experiment. The close cooperation with the road construction administration, which provided access, administration and logistics as the bridge owner, was crucial to the success of the experiment.