Towards improved normative definitions of damping in railway bridges: Insights from the InBridge4EU European experimental databaseShow others and affiliations
2026 (English)In: Engineering structures, ISSN 0141-0296, E-ISSN 1873-7323, Vol. 359, article id 122666Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Recent measurement campaigns under the Shift2Rail In2Track2 and In2Track3 projects have shown that damping levels in existing railway bridges often exceed the conservative values prescribed in EN 1991–2. These studies also revealed significant scatter among similar structures, reflecting the complex influence of soil–structure interaction, vibration amplitude, and estimation methods. Given the critical role of damping in bridge dynamics, particularly near resonance, and in light of the challenges outlined above, an update of the Eurocode provisions is needed. In this context, the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail) launched the InBridge4EU project to improve the representation of damping in the Eurocode framework. This paper presents its main outcomes based on over 1150 traffic-induced acceleration records from nearly 90 bridges across five European countries. The analysis resulted in the first proposal since the 1990s for revised damping curves and an updated bridge typology classification that better reflects real-world variability. These results provide a more robust, data-driven basis for the forthcoming revision of EN 1991–2, enabling less conservative yet safe design approaches and contributing to more efficient and reliable dynamic assessment of railway bridges in the European network.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2026. Vol. 359, article id 122666
Keywords [en]
Bridge damping, Railway bridges, Eurocode, Damping estimation algorithms, InBridge4EU project, Normative guidelines
National Category
Infrastructure Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-382234DOI: 10.1016/j.engstruct.2026.122666ISI: 001742463700001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105035241661OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-382234DiVA, id: diva2:2062477
Funder
EU, Horizon Europe
Note
Correction in doi 10.1016/j.engstruct.2026.122867
QC 20260526
2026-05-262026-05-262026-05-26Bibliographically approved