The Height of Precision: New Perspectives in Structural Monitoring

The face of structural engineering is being transformed through emerging information and sensor technologies that allow real-time, remote monitoring of structures to new levels of precision, all helping to further enhance the state-of-the-art. By integrating innovative developments in web programming and remote host configurations with high precision sensors like real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning systems (GPS), data can be mined from structures excited within actual wind and earthquake environments for study of response characteristics, in-situ dynamic properties, and even day-to-day management and operation of critical infrastructure. This paper showcases one application towards this end—a unique program systematically validating the observed full-scale performance of several tall buildings in the US against the wind tunnel and finite element models used in their design.