Towards a Digital Twin of a New Concrete Tied-Arch Bridge: Material Characterisation and Model Validation

Digital twinning is a new condition assessment paradigm that combines information from data and models in the management of structures, which is most valuable when an object changes over time and measurement data that can be correlated with the change is captured. This paper presents the development of a digital twin for a newly constructed concrete-tied-arch bridge by adapting and updating its design computational model using laboratory material and structural field test measurements to validate model design assumptions and to characterise its as-built behaviour. The initial modal parameters having updated the material properties, were within about 10% of the measured values. The design model was successfully updated to achieve a reliable and accurate digital twin of the newly constructed bridge to be used as a baseline for any future assessments of its structural integrity.