On the digital twinning of load tests in railway bridges. Case study: High speed railway network, Extremadura, Spain

This paper shows the developments on the digital twinning of a set of new High speed Railway bridges located in South Western Spain. The aim of this digitization is the generation of a twin-driven maintenance planning. This research is performed within the frame of a H2020 European project called ASHVIN, related to the use of Digital Twins for Design, Construction and Maintenance purposes within the AEC sector. The project provides a series of demo cases for all stages. One of the demo cases is a series of new bridges belonging to a high speed train network in Extremadura, Spain. The demo case is aimed at establishing sensor-based and image-based requirements, procedures and examples for the generation of realistic virtual replica of the physical bridges. The twins are deemed to as living assets that can be updated during operation. The paper depicts actions and deployments undertaken during the routine static load tests. The efforts related to sensoring, simulation, modelling, assessment and validation can be wrapped up systematically for further use during regular operation of the asset. All authors acknowledge the funding of Ashvin, “Assistants for Healthy, Safe, and Productive Virtual Construction Design, Operation & Maintenance using a Digital Twin” a H2020 project under agreement 958161. Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura