Öresund bridge gets rail maintenance-reducing pilot

The Öresund bridge between Denmark and Sweden is the site of a pilot project that is supposed to reduce maintenance on the rail tracks. With the help of a digital twin, a dust removal system will now be monitored automatically, reducing the need for physical presence on the busy bridge.

The bridge is equipped with a magnet system, which helps to remove dust particles from the rails. Such particles can, if not removed in a timely fashion, form clusters and cause short-circuiting.

The system is not without its faults, however. It requires a lot of manual maintenance, as the screws that keep the magnets in their place need to be checked to prevent them from getting loose. That is an especially difficult process, according to Swedish media, because there are long stretches of constantly busy rail.

A new technology

Now, a new technology is looking to reduce the need for physical presence on the bridge to check the magnets. A system developed by the company Strainlabs is supposed to monitor the dust-removing magnets as part of a pilot project. The product includes special bolts, a signalling system and accompanying software.

“There are many screws on the plant – not only on the railway but in large structures, bridge bearings, underground pumps and more – connections that are constantly exposed to vibrations, weather and wind. This is an important evaluation step of how reliable the data is and we look forward to following the pilot project. We are open to testing new innovations at our facility, which, according to our experience, often results in a win-win”, comments a representative of the bridge.