A Good Practice for the Proof Testing of Cable-Stayed Bridges

Featured Application The paper presents the significance of a comprehensive experimental campaign, including static and dynamic tests, for the proof testing of cable-stayed bridges, aimed at the development of a reliable digital twin model of the structure for health monitoring purposes. This paper presents the results and interpretations of static and dynamic tests that were executed on a newly built cable-stayed steel-concrete composite bridge during the final proof testing. A brief description of the structure, the testing methodology, and the used instrumentation are presented. Then, the test results are widely discussed and interpreted in order to evaluate the bridge performance during the proof test and also to understand the usefulness of each performed test in a proof test framework. All the collected experimental data are also compared to the numerical ones that were obtained through a refined finite element model, in order to check the behavior of the structure. The outcomes of the present work can offer references for the proof testing and monitoring of cable-stayed bridges.