Numerical simulation of meteorological hazards on motorway bridges

Abstract

A one-dimensional boundary layer model was combined with a routine to calculate surface temperatures on road bridges. Forced by reanalysis data for the year 2016, simulations were performed for two bridges 80 and 130 m in height, respectively. The results for each hour of the year were compared with on-site observations. In addition to the annual variation in general, temperature extremes captured by the model were quite reasonable. Although hourly wind speeds above the bridge were calculated less perfectly, the few cases of simulated and observed maximum mean winds were in good agreement.