Numerical calibration of railway bridge based on measurement data

Bridges rarely behave precisely according to design assumptions. In most cases, they have some hidden reserves and behave preferable under traffic loads. To take these benefits into consideration numerical models can be calibrated based on measured structural response. The case study presented herein shows the calibration process for a railway truss bridge in Austria and the comparison of calibration results obtained by two individual teams. Each team did an individual and independent calibration based on different finite element models based on measured train passages. Both calibrations improved the precision of the calculated model response compared to the initial model, but also showed that the calibration parameters must be chosen with care to ensure plausibility of the results.