PSI - Issue 84

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 344–351

© 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference Keywords: Railway bridges, inspections, maintability Abstract Preserving historic bridges requires a holistic approach that takes into account their historical significance, current function, and safety requirements. Targeted interventions, carried out with professionalism and respect for the structure, can ensure the survival of these precious testimonies of the past. Leaks in masonry arch bridges cause deterioration that over time can lead to structural failure. Preventing such problems is the key objective of special scheduled maintenance, which waterproofs the structures using construction techniques that safeguard railway operations. These interventions also include the construction of metal walkways to ensure a safe place for all maintenance and inspection work on the existing bridge, while maintaining safe distances from the tracks. © 2026 1. Introduction According to recent statistics (“Sustainable Bridges-Assessment for Future Traffic Demands and Longer Lives”, 2007), more than 40% of the railway bridges in operation in Europe (around 200,000) are masonry arch bridges, the majority of which have been in service for over 100 years. These percentages are also reflected in the stock of railway bridges in Italy, as masonry arch bridges were mostly built between 1840 and 1930, although there are some isolated examples of such structures as late as the post-World War II period. III Fabre Conference: Existing Bridges, Viaducts, and Tunnels: Research, Innovation, and Applications Works on historic masonry bridges to improve inspectability and maintainability Michela Briganti Botta a *, Vasco Truffini a a Sintagma s.r.l. via Roberta 1, San Martino in Campo Perugia, 06128, Italy

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 3921724155; fax: +39 075 6090722. E-mail address: m.botta@sintagma-ingegneria.it

2452-3216 © 2026 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Conference 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.06.045