The UIC Panel of Structural Experts held its spring meeting virtually on Tuesday 2 March.

The Chairman, Martin Muncke of ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, welcomed the 24 representatives attending the two sessions.

Bernd Rositzka was introduced as the new Head of Infrastructure in the UIC Rail System Department. He informed the participants of news from UIC and presented the results of the 2020 IRS migration work programme.

Mr Muncke discussed planned work on the IRS migration programme for 2021 with the members. The PoSE proposed focusing on various groups:

• Bridges in general
• Impact forces
• Steel construction
• Tunnels

UIC will launch a call for experts within the next two months.

Jean-Jacques Reber presented the results of a questionnaire on cross sections of ballasted bridges. There had been 14 responses to the questionnaire, a very good result. The information provided demonstrated a common approach in this field.

UIC’s advisors provided information on the results of the 2021 opt-in projects within the sector: RFID+AVRIS, which focus on RFID tagging for track components and automated video railway inspections. The projects have been approved by the RSF and the kick-off meeting will be announced shortly.
The next part of the meeting was entirely devoted to ongoing projects and IRSs in progress. The respective coordinators and technical leaders presented the current status in relation to each project:

• Masonry Arch Bridges
  Didier van der Velde (Infrabel) and Andrea Vecchi (RFI) presented a proposal for the next three background documents to be published.

• EOLE
  Mr Rositzka presented the status of the EOLE project. UIC will send an invitation to a special meeting in order to define the next steps.

• DRONE4RAIL
  Mr Vecchi presented the status of the project, which will be completed in summer 2021.

• IRS 70779-10 Tunnel Asset Management and Maintenance Principles
  Annalisa Pranno (RFI) presented the programme of work for a new edition of this IRS and background documents to be published. The estimated timeline for updating the IRS is 18 months.

The UIC advisors also reported on the status and next steps in the opt-in process 2022. Mercedes Gutiérrez presented the new taskforce on extreme weather conditions launched by RSF. UIC will take the opportunity to launch new projects for the opt-in 2022.

Permanent link between PoSE and UIC CROSS-T project (TTI Sector)
David Mirayo presented an overview of the CROSS-T project, which deals with crossing effects between trains on mixed traffic lines.

Mr Muncke presented information on EN standards and cooperation with CEN.

Concerning the tunnel sector, the new working group for IRS 70779-10 was finalised. The call for experts for this and other new working groups will be launched in the coming weeks.

Closing the meeting, Mr Muncke advised that he would step back from his chairmanship by the end of the year. The PoSE participants warmly thanked him for all he has done for UIC, the railways and the PoSE members over the past number of years.

Date and venue of forthcoming meetings

Budapest (TBC), September 2021

Paris, January 2022