IABSE TG3.1 final analysis: Comparison between full-scale measurements and numerical simulations of a long-span bridge during a non-synoptic event

Over the past few years, the frequency and intensity of extreme climate events such as thunderstorms and downbursts have increased. These non-synoptic events involve large fluctuations in wind speed and angle of attack, potentially inducing critical conditions for bridge decks. Technological advancements in full-scale monitoring have not only confirmed these characteristics but have also enabled deeper investigations of long-span bridges aeroelastic behavior. These circumstances have proven to be a valuable opportunity for the IABSE TG3.1, which has been involved for the past 6 years in benchmarking software to compute bridge responses to turbulent winds, to extend the validation of numerical methods to extreme weather phenomena. To achieve this goal, it was decided to compare the results of numerical simulations obtained by the participants with the measured full-scale response of the Hardanger Bridge during the storm “Tor”, which struck the bridge in 2016. To provide a suitable input for the simulations, wind tunnel tests were carried out in the Politecnico di Milano wind tunnel on a deck sectional model of the bridge. This paper presents the first numerical results and compares them with the monitored bridge response.