Ambient Vibration Monitoring of a Highway Bridge Undergoing a Destructive Test
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 11, Issue 5
Abstract
Developing a technique to continuously monitor in-service highway bridges is one of the major research focuses at the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the University of Connecticut. The goal has been to use ambient traffic loading as the force to excite a measurable parameter that is sensitive to overall structural integrity. In this study, the dynamic responses of a full-scale steel-girder highway bridge during the passage of a small truck were measured using a number of sensors that could be reasonably implemented on a network of in-service bridges. Measurements were taken before and during the staged introduction of a simulated crack in one of the main supporting girders. The crack was introduced in five stages until it extended through two-thirds of the depth of the girder. Accelerometers were placed at various locations on each girder. Frequency spectra for each stage of the testing were compared to those recorded before the introduction of the crack to determine which aspects of the spectra were sensitive to the change in stiffness. The results indicate that monitoring the amplitudes at the natural frequencies and the frequency response spectrum using the cross signature assurance criterion can be used as an indicator that significant cracks have developed in a multigirder highway bridge.
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Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. The work was carried out at the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the University of Connecticut.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 11 • Issue 5 • September 2006
Pages: 602 - 610
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 21, 2003
Accepted: Jul 15, 2005
Published online: Sep 1, 2006
Published in print: Sep 2006
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