Dave Cousins
Principal Engineer, Accolade MeasurementDave’s career has revolved around bridges continuously, in a flurry of roles including design, fabrication, temporary works, installation, assessment and demolition. Highlights have included designing innovative reconstructions in seemingly impossible site constraints, research into reinforced concrete deck hinge joints, temporary works for a 135t asymmetric steel arch installation and managing the worlds’ largest bridge monitoring system at Queensferry Crossing. In the latter years, he’s taken to focus on deteriorated structures and detection of defects through non-destructive testing, structural health monitoring and load testing.
My Speaker Sessions
Wednesday 13 March 2024
14:00
Insight through Load Testing
14:00 - 14:25
- A overview of multiple schemes involving load testing of bridges.
- Picking out the unique and novel examples, the presenters will share their experiences of supplementary and proof load testing on large and small structures.
- Capturing useful pointers for when load testing is possible, available techniques, problems encountered, and limitations.
- As we continue to extend the service life of many bridges, the use of load testing can be the key to insight beyond numerical assessment modelling.
