In Japan, most of the riveted girders in railway bridges are ageing more than 70 years. Therefore those riveted girders are suffering from much functional loss by severe deterioration due to long term environmental attacks and effective repair/strengthening methods are required.
However, it is very difficult to assess quantitatively the strength loss of a rivet joint caused by corrosion of steel plates and rivets. In this study, static loading tests on the strength of rivets were conducted on corroded rivets parts and replaced parts with high-strength bolt, which were obtained from a steel railway bridge that was removed from service and highway bridges.
