Swiss researchers use AI to monitor railway bridge stability
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Swiss researchers use AI to monitor railway bridge stability
Researchers in Zurich say they can now verify the statics of railway bridges using a new, specially developed artificial intelligence (AI) model.
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The tool makes it possible to set priorities for inspections to be carried out, according to a statement released Monday by the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. In other words, the technology makes it possible to determine which bridges need intervention.
Switzerland has numerous concrete railway bridges, the ETH Zurich pointed out. “In Switzerland, a considerable part of the infrastructure is approaching the end of its life expectancy and therefore needs to be checked and possibly strengthened,” said Sophia Kuhn, developer of the AI model, quoted in the statement.
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Machine learning
The researchers developed the programme in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Railways. The system consists of an artificial neural network, an algorithm that, like a brain, learns from the data provided. The learning is done with a huge database of information about existing bridges.
A major advantage of the programme is that it can not only tell whether a bridge is stable, but it also highlights how reliable its estimate is.
Translated from Italian with DeepL/gw
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