Linz-Urfahr railway and road bridge - a 110-year-old structure severely damaged by corrosion

At the very end of the 1890s, the rural district of Urfahr was connected to the town of Linz, Austria, by means of a seven‐span, 393.94 m long steel bridge. Serious problems regarding its durability arose from the use of the bridge for road traffic due to the application of de‐icing salt, which began in the mid‐1960s and caused severe corrosion damage. In 1981 the bridge was improved by restoring the anti‐corrosion protection and by replacing the old deck construction with a new one. Since that time, restoration works and repairs have been carried out continuously. This paper deals with the present reliability of the main spans with a special focus on the structural behaviour under traffic and wind loads, quantified by means of modern standards.