Modal Analysis for the Rehabilitation Assessment of the Luiz I Bridge

Dynamic testing in the condition assessment of existing bridges to support their rehabilitation and strengthening designs is becoming a common procedure, yet additional dynamic testing after rehabilitation is rare. Nevertheless, combining the results of dynamic testing before and after bridge rehabilitation produces unique and valuable information regarding changes occurred in a bridge's dynamic properties. Such dual testing would allow researchers to verify the behavior predicted at the design stage and to assess the stiffness variation, which would eliminate the need for mandatory field static testing. This article reports the modal analysis of a unique centenary steel-arch bridge that was recently rehabilitated and strengthened. The ambient vibration test conducted after the construction works is described, and the data are compared with those collected before the rehabilitation. Structural identification is completed by means of experimentally validated three-dimensional (3D) finite-element (FE) models simulating both phases. The results bring to light important findings concerning variation in bridge stiffness, changes in the modal parameters, and the impact of support conditions and structure of decks in bridge dynamic properties.