Germany's KIT to study bridge vibration data

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT, will use acceleration sensors to gather vibration data in bridges in a bid to pinpoint structural degradation.
By David Arminas July 7, 2025 Read time: 2 mins
The concrete Rahmedetal Bridge near Luedenscheid was demolished in a controlled explosion in May 2023 (image courtesy Autobahn Gmbh)

Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) will start a bridge monitoring study to determine if real-time structural vibration data can help prioritise maintenance.

According to Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport, there are almost 40,000 bridges in the federal highway network, of which 86% are made of reinforced and prestressed concrete. Many of these bridges date from the 1960s and 1970s and were built for significantly lower traffic volumes.

At the beginning of March, it was discovered that a crack in a load-bearing component of the A100 Ringbahn Bridge – opened in 1963 as part of the 21km Berlin circular road - had widened significantly. The bridge was demolished in April.

“If significant cracks occur in the concrete, the stiffness and thus also the vibration behaviour changes,” said Alexander Stark, a professor of concrete structures within the Institute of Concrete Structures and Building Materials Technology at KIT. “This metrological evaluation of the entire bridge is intended to localise [pinpoint] crack formations and at the same time quantify them for the first time - even before they are even visible and a regular inspection of the bridge is due.”

For a longer discussion, click here for a Global Highways feature.

For a video of the controlled demolition of the Rahmedetal Bridge, click here.

Road Structures

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