Measuring Deflections of a Short-Span Railway Bridge Using a Robotic Total Station
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 18, Issue 2
Abstract
A robotic total station (RTS) [or robotic theodolite or theodolite positioning system (TPS)] was used for the first time to measure the deflections of a short-span bridge in response to passing trains. The RTS measurements aimed to a reflector which was set on one of the midspans of the historical Gorgopotamos Bridge in Greece permitted to identify the measurement noise (apparent displacements) up to ±1.3 mm when no trains were passing, and deflections with peaks of 2.5–6 mm during intervals when small or larger trains were passing. These results confirm previous experiments and indicate that, under certain conditions (mostly favorable atmospheric conditions), an RTS can be used for monitoring dynamic displacements of relatively stiff bridges, and as a useful tool for structural health monitoring.
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Acknowledgments
We are indebted to OSE SA, and especially to D. Spyropoulou, K. Tzanakakis, and S. Kariotis for granting permission to study the Gorgopotamos Railway bridge and for field support. E. Kokkinou made a preliminary analysis of the bridge oscillations and participated in the field survey with Spyros Rezos. Partial financial support through a research grant by the Greek Secretariat for Research and Technology (GGET) is acknowledged. This paper benefited from constructive comments by two anonymous reviewers.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 18 • Issue 2 • February 2013
Pages: 182 - 185
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 25, 2011
Accepted: Oct 25, 2011
Published online: Jan 15, 2013
Published in print: Feb 1, 2013
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