Smart sensors to be installed on Vanšu Bridge to improve safety

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A new pilot project in Riga will help monitor one of the city’s most important bridges – the Vanšu Bridge. The Latvian startup Adventum Tech, in cooperation with the Riga Municipality’s Outdoor and Mobility Department, will install an innovative real-time monitoring system called “Digital Bridge” to track the bridge’s structural performance.

The Vanšu Bridge is one of Riga’s busiest transport routes – it is crossed daily by almost 60,000 vehicles and more than 2,000 pedestrians and cyclists. This makes safety and stability especially important for the city’s infrastructure.

As part of the pilot, tilt and vibration monitoring sensors will be installed on the bridge, particularly near the main load-bearing cables. These devices will record how the structure reacts in different conditions – during rush hours, storms, or under temperature changes.

All data will be transmitted wirelessly to Adventum Tech’s analysis platform, where it will be processed in real time. This will make it possible to detect irregularities early and prevent potential risks, ensuring greater safety for both drivers and pedestrians.

The project is part of a broader trend of using smart technologies in city infrastructure monitoring. Adventum Tech has already tested similar systems on railway infrastructure in Latvia, monitoring noise, vibrations, and structural loads.

With this solution, Riga is taking another step towards becoming a modern and safe smart city, where technology helps provide citizens with more reliable and safer services.

A Solar Power Plant Will Be Built at the “Daugava” Water Station

Riga is taking an important step towards a more sustainable future – a solar power plant will be built on the grounds of “Rīgas ūdens” at the “Daugava” Water Station on Bauskas Street. The plant will generate green electricity that the company will use for its daily water treatment processes. This project will help reduce the city’s climate impact and cut carbon emissions. In practice, it means that part of the electricity consumed by the station will come directly from solar energy, saving resources and making water supply services more sustainable.

Riga’s water supply system is one of the largest infrastructure networks in the city and consumes a significant amount of electricity. By building this solar power plant, “Rīgas ūdens” aims to reduce the environmental footprint of its water treatment processes and lower greenhouse gas emissions. The solar station is part of a broader strategy for Riga to become a climate-neutral and sustainable city.

The company emphasizes that this is only the first step – similar projects are planned at other infrastructure facilities in the future, such as the “Daugavgrīva” wastewater treatment plant. This means that more and more of the services we use daily will be powered by environmentally friendly energy.

The construction of the solar power plant is planned to be completed by April 30, 2026. The total eligible project cost amounts to EUR 1,087,355.09, including EUR 706,780.81 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).