ISPRS-Annals ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ISPRS-Annals ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. 2194-9050 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/isprs-annals-VIII-4-W2-2021-121-2021 RECONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGE SUPERSTRUCTURES FROM AIRBORNE LASER SCANNING POINT CLOUDS Goebbels S. 1 Dalitz C. 1 iPattern Institute, Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, Reinarzstr. 49, 47805 Krefeld, Germany 07 10 2021 VIII-4/W2-2021 121 128 Copyright: © 2021 S. Goebbels 2021 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/VIII-4-W2-2021/121/2021/isprs-annals-VIII-4-W2-2021-121-2021.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/VIII-4-W2-2021/121/2021/isprs-annals-VIII-4-W2-2021-121-2021.pdf

The paper deals with the 3D reconstruction of bridges from Airborne Laser Scanning point clouds and cadastral footprints. The generated realistic 3D objects can be used to enhance city models. While other studies have focused on bridge decks to fill gaps in digital elevation models, this paper focuses on the decomposition of superstructures into construction elements such as pylons, cables and arches. For this purpose, the bridge type is classified, and a combination of model-based and data-based methods is used that are built on the detection of arcs, catenaries, and line segments in the point clouds. The described techniques were successfully applied to create 3D models of the Rhine bridges in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.