We are now involved in the experimental campaign of the Pont3 project at the ICITECH laboratories of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). The project, which is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, involves the participation of three universities: Universitat Politècnica de València, Universidad de Vigo and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
First, a scaled specimen of a steel-truss bridge span was positioned in the testing area at the ICITECH laboratories, as shown in the pictures. We use two type of supports: roller (simulated with a box full of steel balls) and pinned.
Now, we are preparing the laboratory tests. In these tests we will simulate the failure of different elements: diagonals, vertical elements, chords, bracings and supports. We will perform several tests and use different monitoring strategies.
These tests will allow us to analyse the response of the structure in different scenarios and define monitoring strategies to detect local failures that can propagate and cause collapses in steel-truss bridges.
