VIDEO, PHOTOS: bridge load testing on Budapest’s emblematic Chain Bridge

The bridge load testing of Budapest’s iconic Chain Bridge was successful today afternoon. The test was carried out with 24 trucks weighing 20 tonnes each. It aimed to discover the capacity of the overpass. Based on the first results, the test was successful, and its revamp will continue following the schedule and the budget allocated by the municipal council and the Hungarian government.

Important milestone in the Chain Bridge revamp project

On 12 November, experts carried out a static and dynamic bridge load test. Experts measured what deformations trucks weighing 20 tonnes would cause in the overpass’s structure. Furthermore, they wanted to know how the bridge “behaves” if multiple heavy vehicles cross it with a speed of 5 km/h, 20 km/h, 30 km/h, and 50 km/h.

Professionals of the Department of Bridges and Structures at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics carried out the test. They used 24 trucks weighing 20 tonnes each placing them in 12 different positions on the bridge. For example, the drivers halted them in one then in two rows. Another time, 12 of them occupied the overpass. In the next phase, all of them did so.

Careful measures and evaluation

Meanwhile, they measured the bridge structure’s shifts from the overpass and the Danube embankments with a 0.5 mm precise geodetic apparatus.