Advances of Digital Twins in Bridge Structures Maintenance

The conception and development of digital twins (DT) are increasingly investigated within the civil engineering sector. They exhibit significant potential in nearly all phases of a structure, including design, construction, operation, and maintenance. However, the precise function and implementation of DT lack a clear definition and continue to be the subject of research. This work investigates the implementation and latest developments of DT concerning the maintenance of bridge construction. To achieve this, we first conduct a systematic literature data curation of papers published within the last eight years, from 2016 to 2024, related to DT in the maintenance of civil engineering structures. These papers have been selected based on a co-occurrence analysis of keywords. As a result, we found 74 papers. Afterwards, with the focus on the digital entity of the bridge DT, we summarize and analyze the concepts, methods, and application cases of 10 selected goal-oriented papers. Then, the application of DT on the Nibelungen Bridge Worms in Germany is introduced as a case study. Finally, we provide a discussion on the implementation of DT in the maintenance of civil engineering structures.