CIRIA (UK)

In 2006, CIRIA published the report:

C656: Masonry arch bridges: condition appraisal and remedial treatment

This document has many positive things to say about the rigid block method, with LimitState:RING the only available software to implement this approach:

quick and reliable for a significant range of bridge configurations... a very versatile tool

a significant improvement from basic limit analysis formulations

Also, many of the limitations associated with limit analysis mentioned in the report do not apply to LimitState:RING, which is fully capable of modeling:

• Movement of the supports
• Material failure
• Sliding between voussoirs
• Slippage between rings
• Compressive failure modes

Find out more about the features of LimitState:RING.

International Union of Railways (UIC)

In 2002, the UIC set up an international study group in order to establish information on the ‘state-of-the-art’ of masonry arch railway bridges, develop tools that help optimise the life-cycle management of masonry arch bridges and revise the existing UIC Code 778-3R: 'Recommendations for the assessment of the load carrying capacity of existing masonry and mass-concrete arch bridges.'

LimitState:RING formed an integral part of this project, being developed to provide engineers with a significantly improved analysis tool for masonry arch bridges.

Network Rail (UK)

In 2001 Network Rail (formerly Railtrack) commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to independently study the efficacy of the availabale masonry arch bridge analysis packages. The TRL report concluded that RING gives good results and that it would be a very effective tool [for masonry arch analysis]. Based upon these findings, Network rail reported that:

 [RING] is a suitable program for use to assess masonry arch bridges on the rail network