Transition zones on railway lines are localities with gradual changes in the construction layers in the connections between a fixed track and ballasted track or between a wide track and various railway objects, e.g., tunnels, bridges, culverts, etc. The different type of construction of transition zones causes a shock wave when the train passes, which can cause undesired effects on the stability of its construction, durability, and passengers’ comfort. For this reason, railway opera-tors pay increased attention to the construction inspection of these transition sections. The research deals with the description of the transition zones, methods, and results of their monitoring in experimental sections of the railway corridors. Innovative aspects are the measurements made using precise geodetic instruments as well as continuous measurements with the KRAB trolley. The analyses of measurements in the experimental sections of the track show whether the stability of the geometric spatial position is ensured.

In order to analyse the buckling behaviour of existing bow-string arch bridges, it is necessary to deal with the imperfections that influence the global stability of their superstructures. Direct quantification of the material imperfections represents an extremely difficult task for this type of structure. On the other hand, the geometrical imperfections can be measured in more detail by using special scanners or high-accuracy surveying instruments. This contribution represents a beginning part of the research activities focusing on the real values of geometric imperfections of existing steel arch bridges using three-dimensional (3D) scanning. The possibility of using these data for further theoretical and numerical analysis based on the finite element method (FEM) and for further creating the building information modelling (BIM) of the bridges is proposed. When verifying the stability of bow-string arch bridges, much higher attention has to be paid to the out-of-plane stability of the arches. The numerical models of an existing bridge superstructure were developed to execute a nonlinear analysis with geometrical imperfections included. Both the theoretical and actual imperfections obtained by 3D scanning were taken into account. The obtained data, their comparison and the applicability of the presented method are finally discussed.

The complex global analysis of the steel tied-arch bridges may require specific data in some cases, e.g., residual stress or real geometrical imperfections. The presented research is focused on the investigation of the actual in-plane shape of the steel tied-arch bridges. To obtain the actual shapes of the arches of existing bridges, 3D terrestrial laser scanning was applied. Data were then investigated as a group in order to find the relationship within the tied-arch bridges’ vertical imperfections. Firstly, the detailed surveyed points in the selected position were mathematically determined to estimate the measured data. The next step included the creation of curves presenting the real shape of the bridges’ arches course using numerical modelling. After the pre-programming, the calculations and related numerical modelling were performed in the Matlab environment. These modelled arch-bridges courses were approximated by using regression analysis. The approximating curves from the regression analysis represent the theoretical course of the arches. The difference between the theoretical shape and the processed measured values may be presented as the examined in-plane imperfections. Subsequently, the paper presents comparisons from the evaluation of the individual imperfections on the investigated bridges and a comparison of the measurement with the standardised shape of the imperfections.

The current engineering and building pace has reached localities where vast civil projects were not considered. The changes of the intravillan area may cause some vacant historical localities to become a boundary or even a part of occupied area. The proximity of designed civil projects to historical structures may have great impact on their stability, and it is recommended or even legislatively set to monitor the possible changes in their shape or position. In case of protected structures, it is convenient to find a non-invasive way to measure and monitor historical structures if possible. Many data acquisition methods used in civil engineering for various purposes have gone through significant technological progress and enable the new ways of data collection. It is needed to focus on these methods from an application and precision point of view.

The paper deals with computation techniques applied in preprocessing of gravity data, which are based on time series analysis by using mathematical and statistical smoothing techniques such as moving average, moving median, cumulative and moving average, etc. The main aim of gravity data preprocessing is to avoid abrupt errors caused by a sudden movement of the subsoil due to human or natural activities or systematic instrumental influences and so provide relevant gravity values, which are then subjected to further processing. The new approach of the described research involves the preprocessing phase in gravity data analysis to identify and avoid gross errors, which could influence the size of unknown parameters estimated by the least square method in the processing phase.

Hand in hand with the increasing interest in the environment, this work puts the spotlight on ecological stability itself. The Coefficient of Ecological Stability (CES) indicates a chosen region’s stability level that may be calculated using various methodical instructions. For exact CES determination, it is necessary to divide the area of interest correctly into predefined classes and the division quality has a direct impact on the final CES value precision which presents its informative value. For CES calculations in the past, terrestrial measurements and processing were used. Regarding the new methods of spatial data acquisition such as photogrammetry or remote sensing, there comes the question of the usage of these data for secondary purposes, such as for ecology. This articles goal is to test the use of the images taken by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for CES calculation. The main objective is to highlight the possibility of a UAV to measure CES without terrestrial measurements. The second objective is to compare the actual formulas for CES calculation and to observe the differences between the results from different calculations. Another aim is to show the inconsistency of calculations which lead to legislative unification. The aim is to apply a new method of CES calculation using Geographic Information System (GIS) software and modern methods of data acquisition and to point out the benefits, mainly including the time factor, which is closely related to the terrestrial geodetic measurement, when the CES value is about to be calculated for such a spacious area.