Small-Format Aerial Photography for Highway-Bridge Monitoring
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25, Issue 2
Abstract
Small-format aerial photography (SFAP) is a low-cost solution for bridge-surface imaging and is proposed as a remote bridge-inspection technique to supplement current bridge visual inspection. Providing top-down views, photos taken from airplanes flying at 305 m (1,000 ft) allow for the visualization of subinch (i.e., large) cracks and joint openings on bridge decks or highway pavements. An onboard global positioning system can help geo-reference images collected and allow automated damage detection. However, the site lighting, surrounding tree shades, and highway surface reflectivity may affect the quality of the images. Several examples of bridge evaluation using SFAP are presented to demonstrate the capability of remote sensing as an effective tool for bridge-construction monitoring and condition assessment. A deck condition rating technique for large crack detection is proposed to quantify the condition of the existing bridge decks.
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Acknowledgments
This project is supported by Grant No. USDOTDTOS59-07-H-0005 from the DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions reflected in this publication are the responsibility of the writers only and do not represent the official policy or position of the DOT, RITA, any state, or other entity. The writers also would like to acknowledge the guidance and contributions of Mr. Caesar Singh, the Program Manager at the DOT; and the continued technical assistance of Mr. Garland Haywood of the North Carolina Department of Transportation Division 10 and of Mr. Jimmy Rhyne of the City of Charlotte Department of Transportation.
We also acknowledge and appreciate the excellent review and input of our national advisory committee: Sreenivas Alampalli, New York State Department of Transportation; Mrinmay (Moy) Biswas, North Carolina Department of Transportation; Hamad abu-Harash, Iowa Department of Transportation; Kelley Rehm, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO); K. T. Thirumalai, STI International; Dan Turner, University of Alabama; and Phillip Yen, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Turner-Fairbank Research Center.
Last, but not least, a significant amount of work was performed by Brian Philbrick of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and by Brian Sain and Todd Spanish of Boyle Consulting Engineering, LLC.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25 • Issue 2 • April 2011
Pages: 105 - 112
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 24, 2010
Accepted: Jun 18, 2010
Published online: Mar 15, 2011
Published in print: Apr 1, 2011
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