Usage of digital tools in the recalculation of existing bridgesapplication on existing bridges over the river Rhine Numerous bridges over the river Rhine in Germany and the Netherlands are currently being recalculated and increasingly show capacity deficits compared to the requirements of the Eurocodes. In contrast to smaller structures, a new replacement construction for these important structures is only possible with great effort; moreover, this is nowadays also to be questioned very critically based on the historical and environmental reasons. Whenever possible, preservation should be given preference over replacement construction. "Sharpening the pencil" can be decisive in the recalculation, i. e. to take into account the actual traffic load, to examine the load-bearing behavior in detail and to activate hidden reserves. Digital tools can be of great service here, as they allow numerous scenarios, details or gradations to be considered individually, instead of just the analysis of governing sections, which is on the safe side. A sensible use of digitalization helps to improve the ecological balance, to save bridge monuments and ultimately to save costs for the bridge owner. It will be shown, using existing bridges over the river Rhine as examples, how the use of digital tools has achieved significantly better results, which yields to targeted overall economic strengthening measures. Alternative modelling methods, detailed local models, verifications of the connections and determination of the local individual fatigue effect for the structure are herein presented.