In e-News #692 on the occasion of the publication of the guidelines for Masonry Arch Bridges “Cleaning manual” and “Maintenance and replacement of existing masonry” on 19 May 2020 we announced the IRS 70778-3 “Recommendations for the inspection, assessment and maintenance of masonry arch bridges”. Its last publication was in February 2018 as the first edition in the English language which had been a development of leaflet 778-3 second edition from April 2011.

Like in the case of IRS 70778-2 “Carrying capacity and fatigue risks of existing metallic railway bridges” (see eNews #693) the UIC Panel of Structural Experts (PoSE) decided in September 2018 to also make this document available in French and German to make the valuable content available to a larger audience.

The document consists of almost 200 pages with quite complex content, a challenge solved by UIC’s translators together with the UIC T&S advisors and with support of expert proof-readers from SNCF and DB.

So, thanks to this committed teamwork we can now present you with the second edition of IRS 70778-3, in three languages. The English version has also been editorially amended for the new edition.
The IRS covers the following areas:

• Structure and behaviour of masonry arch bridges
• Inspection, monitoring and condition appraisal of masonry arch bridges
• Assessment of load capacity and determination of service life of masonry arch
• bridges
• Maintenance and repair of masonry arch bridges

References in the IRS to a value in an EN standard are intended for infrastructure managers within the CEN member states and can also be recommendations for infrastructure managers in non-CEN member states unless national or regional standards apply.

Furthermore, the IRS 70778-3 includes 8 appendices providing information on

• Specific assessment methods
• Recommendations for testing and monitoring
• Determination of properties
• Load testing
• An alternative method for the determination of φ’ and the
• Bussiness distribution

Please find the documents in the UIC ETF-Shop under the following links:

EN: https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/9542/s/recommendations-for-the-inspection-assessment-and-maintenance-of-masonry-arch-bridges/

FR: https://www.shop-etf.com/en/recommandations-pour-l-inspection-la-requalification-et-la-maintenance-des-ponts-voute-s-en-maconnerie.html

DE: https://www.shop-etf.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/9541/s/empfehlungen-fur-die-inspektion-bewertung-und-instandhaltung-von-gewolbebrucken-aus-mauerwerk/