WP4 - Demonstration projects (DEMO) 

Work package leader:

In this Work Package, the R&D providers demonstrates the project outputs on real demonstration case studies on road, railway and waterway networks. These demonstration projects will ensure that the outputs from the project will be implemented in the practice of infrastructure management within and beyond the life of the project. The selected demo project sites within the project are:

• Demo project 1 - Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands

The port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe and one of the busiest in the world, which supports a throughput of 467.4 million tonnes, including dry bulk, liquid bulk and containers, via rail, road and inland waterways throughout Europe. SAFE-10-T will examine the Suurhoffbrug; a steel bridge that provides an important road and rail connection with the newest part of the port, Maasvlakte. A recent inspection showed a severe degradation of this bridge, indicating that it should be closed by 2020 to guarantee safety of road users. Additionally, a severe disruption or sudden closure of the bridge is expected to cause large effects on freight traffic through Europe.

The project will conduct a safety assessment of this critical bridge and will determine the impacts on multi-modal freight transport along the European TEN-T network due to a potential failure. Future scenarios will be considered in terms of economic growth and associated traffic increases.

• Demo project 2 - Port of Rijeka, Croatia

The port of Rijeka is located on the Kvarner Gulf in the northern Adriatic Sea. There is an ongoing redevelopment project to improve the transport connection from the port with the international road and rail corridors in Croatia. The Brajdica tunnel provides an important rail connection that links the port to the TEN-T Mediterranean corridor, and is currently undergoing redevelopment to support increased traffic capacity. 

The project will demonstrate the short- and long-term benefits of installing a structural monitoring system for the Brajdica tunnel to support optimised maintenance planning through the integration of a whole life-cycle cost assessment model. The impact of various tunnel failure modes will be considered in terms of the multi-modal traffic flow, particularly on passengers who use this route during holiday season and freight transport across Europe. Maintenance strategies will be considered from the perspective of economic and societal costs. 

• Demo project 3 - Severn River Crossing, United Kingdom

The Severn Crossing provides an important transport link between south-west England and the south of Wales under the estuary of the River Severn, which supports significant traffic flow, particularly daily commuters. The rail connection consists of a brick-lined tunnel that was constructed in the 19th century. The tunnel suffers from the ingress of water and significantly relies upon a pumping station. Furthermore, the tunnel lining is prone to loose bricks and requires substantial condition assessment monitoring to be routinely conducted. 

The project will explore the potential use of an automated condition survey method based upon image recognition algorithms, as opposed to the more traditional labour intensive visual surveys. The DST developed in the project will be used to quantify the impact of a potential tunnel failure in terms of the multi-modal traffic flow in this region, and to determine optimized maintenance strategy planning.