桥梁专业外文翻译--欧洲桥梁研究

桥梁专业外文翻译--欧洲桥梁研究

附录

Bridge research in Europe

A brief outline is given of the development of the European Union, together with the research platform in Europe. The special case of post-tensioned bridges in the UK is discussed. In order to illustrate the type of European research being undertaken, an example is given from the University of Edinburgh portfolio: relating to the identification of voids in post-tensioned concrete bridges using digital impulse radar.

Introduction

The challenge in any research arena is to harness the findings of different research groups to identify a coherent mass of data, which enables research and practice to be better focused. A particular challenge exists with respect to Europe where language barriers are inevitably very significant. The European Community was formed in the 1960s based upon a political will within continental Europe to avoid the European civil wars, which developed into World War 2 from 1939 to 1945. The strong political motivation formed the original community of which Britain was not a member. Many of the continental countries saw Britain’s interest as being purely economic. The 1970s saw Britain joining what was then the European Economic Community (EEC) and the 1990s has seen the widening of the community to a European Union, EU, with certain political goals together with the objective of a common European currency.

Notwithstanding these financial and political developments, civil engineering and bridge engineering in particular have found great difficulty in forming any kind of common thread. Indeed the educational systems for University training are quite different between Britain and the European continental countries. The formation of the EU funding schemes —e.g. Socrates, Brite Euram and other programs have helped significantly. The Socrates scheme is based upon the exchange of students between Universities in different member states. The Brite Euram scheme has involved technical research grants given to

consortia of academics and industrial partners within a number of the states— a Brite Euram bid would normally be led by an industrialist.

In terms of dissemination of knowledge, two quite different strands appear to have emerged. The UK and the USA have concentrated primarily upon disseminating basic research in refereed journal publications: ASCE, ICE and other journals. Whereas the continental Europeans have frequently disseminated basic research at conferences where the circulation of the proceedings is restricted.

Additionally, language barriers have proved to be very difficult to break down. In countries where English is a strong second language there has been enthusiastic participation in international conferences based within continental Europe —e.g. Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland. However, countries where English is not a strong second language have been hesitant participants }—e.g. France.

Post-tensioned concrete rail bridge analysis

Ove Arup and Partners carried out an inspection and assessment of the superstructure of a 160 m long post-tensioned, segmental railway bridge in Manchester to determine its load-carrying capacity prior to a transfer of ownership, for use in the Metrolink light rail system..

Particular attention was paid to the integrity of its post-tensioned steel elements. Physical inspection, non-destructive radar testing and other exploratory methods were used to investigate for possible weaknesses in the bridge.

Since the sudden collapse of Ynys-y-Gwas Bridge in Wales, UK in 1985, there has been concern about the long-term integrity of segmental, post-tensioned concrete bridges which may be prone to ‘brittle’ failure without warning. The corrosion protection of the post-tensioned steel cables, where they pass through joints between the segments, has been identified as a major factor affecting the long-term durability and consequent strength of this type of bridge. The identification of voids in grouted tendon ducts at vulnerable positions is recognized as an important step in the detection of such corrosion.