Mar 31, 2026

openBridgeLAB: Bridge under extreme conditions

Großversuche am openBridgeLAB — openBridgeLAB: Bridge under extreme conditions

From April 13 to 16, 2026, the openBridgeLAB research bridge in Bautzen will once again be the site of extensive large-scale tests. This time, the tests will go far beyond traditional system identification investigations: the bridge will be tested in a targeted manner under extraordinary and sometimes extreme conditions.

On April 14, the structure will be excited both vertically and horizontally using a shaker. With forces of up to 25 kN, this exerts a load on the structure that is equivalent to a full-blown earthquake for the research bridge.

On the following day, the first bridge span is additionally ballasted with up to 30 tons of ballast. Under this increased load, the bridge is again dynamically excited. Real traffic impacts are also simulated in this test setup - a challenging situation in which not only the structure but also the measurement technology used is pushed to its limits.

The final test on April 16 will be particularly impressive: prestressing steel will be cut in a targeted manner under ballasting to simulate a case of damage. The bridge will then be dynamically excited again to investigate how the structure behaves under these changed conditions.

The experiments are intended to demonstrate the possibilities offered by the openBridgeLAB research infrastructure: Extreme events and damage scenarios can be realistically investigated here under controlled conditions. This is an important step towards better understanding the behavior of bridges and being able to assess the safety of existing structures even more reliably in the future.

Project information on the openBridgeLAB