Components of digital twins in the operation and maintenance management of traffic bridges

Digital twins will become an integral part of the operation and maintenance management of traffic bridges in the future. This paper argues that they should not only be understood as digital representations of physical structures but as a digital methodology that enhances the operation and maintenance of bridges through the integration of data collection, maintenance actions, data management, structural assessment, and decision support. In this context, it is emphasized that the transition from reactive to predictive maintenance using digital twins can only be achieved if, in addition to the necessary diagnostic and prognostic condition analyses, methods for optimizing decisions on data collection and maintenance actions are also implemented. To illustrate this discussion, two key components of a digital twin for the operation and maintenance management of traffic bridges are demonstrated using a railway bridge as an example. First, it is shown how monitoring data can be systematically managed and made available for subsequent analyses through a data management system. Second, train identification based on measured sleeper vibrations is conducted as part of an object-specific load assessment.