The Suurhoff Bridge is a key rail and road connection for the Rotterdam Harbour. Significant maintenance of the road section of the price-winning 232-meter-long steel cable-stay started in 2019, and a new bridge is built right next to it.
The road and rail bridge share the same foundation, which is why ProRail wanted to track the deformation of the bridge pylons in detail while works are underway. A unique wireless tilt sensor system was devised to measure seasonal and construction influence on the bridge.
With the sensor system installed, ProRail also wanted to learn more about the dynamic deformation of the bridge when trains pass and execute emergency stops on the bridge. During a Saturday in August 2020 a mobile battery-powered seismic accelerator was used to measure vibrations and motion amplification was employed to visualize bridge deck deformation on video. Six times a 200-meter-long 1000-ton-heavy train performed emergency braking stops on the bridge, gathering valuable data.
Project data was visualized in a GIS dashboard, a PowerBI dashboard, and used in the development of a digital twin. Data analytics on the emergency stop sensor data was executed and its results provided in a detailed report.
| Project name | Suurhoff Bridge Monitoring |
| Client | ProRail |
| Location | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Timeline | 2019-2020 |
| Asset | Suurhoff Bridge |
| Type | Steel cable-stayed bridge |
| IoT hardware | 26 wireless tilt sensors, 1 seismic accelerometer, motion amplification video |
| Executed works | sensor system development, sensor system installation, data analytics, data visualisation |
Disclaimer: this project was executed for ProRail while employed with Arcadis.