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Last semester, I presented during the colloquium of the School of Engineering and Sciences of USFQ. The topic of my talk was applications of sound in engineering. Even though there are multiple uses of sound in engineering, most engineering schools do not offer acoustic engineering as a career. In this presentation, I show the vast variety of applications of sound. We start with the architectural acoustics, discussing how different buildings with different uses require a different treatment of sound. I showed a fascinating TEDx talk about how to design rooms that have unique acoustic features. Then, I made the jump to the applications of sound in civil engineering, with as an example of how better asphalt mixes can be used for noise reduction. Finally, I brought the topic to my field, bridge engineering. Here, we see different non-destructive testing methods that use sound waves (or other types of waves) to look inside a material of a bridge. We talked about acoustic emission measureme...

At IABSE 2017 , my colleague presented two papers of our research. I didn't travel to IABSE, because the conference fell right in the middle of my maternity leave. The first paper is titled "Proof load testing of the viaduct De Beek" and the abstract is as follows: Proof load testing can be a suitable method to show that a bridge can carry the required loads from the code without distress. This paper addresses the preparation, execution, and analysis of a proof load test on a four-span reinforced concrete solid slab bridge, viaduct de Beek. The bridge has one lane in each direction, but was restricted to a single lane, since an assessment showed that the capacity is not sufficient to allow both lanes. For this proof load test, the bridge was heavily equipped with sensors, so that early signs of distress can be seen. The difficulty in this test was that, for safety reasons, only the first span could be tested, but that the lowest ratings were found in the second span. A di...

I recently gave a presentation at the ACI Fall Convention in Anaheim, CA about our research on proof load testing of slab bridges. If all goes well, the paper will be published in an ACI SP. Below, you can find the slides of this presentation: Assessment of slab bridges through proof loading in the Netherlands from Eva Lantsoght

I recently presented a poster about our research on load testing in Delft at the ACI Spring Convention in Detroit, MI. Poster presentations are not something I'm quite used to. I've written about my experience presenting a poster for the first time (in 2012) , and since presenting that poster , I've only given lectern sessions. Besides that, I've made two posters for the research school of building and construction of the Netherlands, for their book of research projects, way back in 2009 and 2010. The poster sessions was well attended, and I enjoyed the direction interaction with the audience. As such, I'd vote in favor of adding more poster presentations to the conferences in my field (as long as we can consider them as equal to lectern sessions, instead of considering them as a little "less" valuable). You can find the poster here (you can scroll through it): Beam experiments to investigate loading protocol and stop criteria for load testing from Ev...

My colleagues and I recently published a paper in the proceedings of the ESREL (European Safety and Reliability Conference), held in June in Portorož, Slovenia. My colleague presented the paper, as I was too far advanced in pregnancy to be allowed on a flight. The abstract of the paper is: Proof load tests can be used for a field assessment of the bridge under study. This paper addresses the determination of the reliability index of an existing bridge by means of proof loading through the case study viaduct De Beek. The information of this bridge is used to determine the updated reliability index after proof load testing. A sensitivity study is carried out to identify the effect of the assumptions with regard to the coefficient of variation on the resistance and load effects. In the current practice of proof load testing with vehicles, it can typically only be demonstrated that a certain vehicle type can cross the bridge safely. The results in this paper provide a new insight on the up...

At the fib symposium 2017, I presented a paper titled "Determination of loading protocol and stop criteria for proof loading with beam tests". The abstract of the paper is as follows: Proof loading of existing bridges is an interesting option when insufficient information about a bridge is available. To safely carry out a proof loading test, high loads are placed on the bridge. To avoid permanent damage to the structure, a controlled loading protocol needs to be described, and the measurements need to be closely monitored to identify the onset of distress. The criteria from existing codes and guidelines to evaluate the measurements, called stop criteria, are not universally applicable. To develop recommendations for proof loading of reinforced concrete solid slab bridges, beam experiments were analysed. The beams were heavily instrumented to evaluate the existing stop criteria, and possibly develop new stop criteria. The result of these experiments is the development of a sta...

I recently presented a paper titled "Extended Strip Model for slabs subjected to a combination of loads " at the fib symposium in Maastricht. The abstract of the paper is: Reinforced concrete slab bridges are assessed for a combination of loads that include self-weight, superimposed loads, and distributed and concentrated live loads. The shear capacity of reinforced concrete slabs subjected to a combination of loads is thus an important topic for the assessment of existing bridges. Currently, a plastic model exists for the assessment of reinforced concrete solid slabs subjected to a concentrated load: the Extended Strip Model, based on the Strip Model for concentric punching shear. To apply this model to slabs subjected to a combination of loads, the model needs to be adapted based on theoretical principles. The results are then compared with the results from experiments on half-scale slab bridges subjected to a combination of a concentrated load close to the support and a li...

At the ACI Spring Convention in Detroit, MI, I gave a presentation in the committee meeting of ACI 437. In this presentation, I gave a quick overview of the research we've been doing in the Netherlands related to load testing. You can find the slides of this presentation below: Proof load testing in the Netherlands - overview of current research from Eva Lantsoght