Passive Structural Health Monitoring of Connecticut’s Bridge Infrastructure
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 13, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper reports on a long-term bridge monitoring program in Connecticut. Monitoring systems have been designed and installed on a series of different bridges, beginning in 1999. Ambient data are collected from normal traffic, using strain gauges, accelerometers, tiltmeters, and thermocouples. This paper discusses three of the monitored bridges, demonstrating the benefits of using long-term monitoring systems to provide information on the structural performance that is useful both to those responsible for the bridge infrastructure and to researchers interested in bridge monitoring. The extensive data developed from multiyear monitoring have been used to create benchmarks for passive structural health monitoring for each of the three bridges. Relationships and trends discovered for each of the bridges, used for the creation of the benchmarks, and stored in a database, are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
For the past two decades, the University of Connecticut, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation have been involved in monitoring the state’s bridge infrastructure, with funding provided by the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The Connecticut Transportation Institute at the University of Connecticut has provided assistance in this work. The many graduate students who have participated in the project are gratefully acknowledged, some of whom are listed in the references.
References
Balageas, D., et al. (2006). Structural health monitoring, ISTE Ltd.
Brandt, A., et al. (2006). “Noise and vibration measurement system basics.” Sound Vib., April, 9–11.
Chajes, M., et al. (2000). “Bridge-condition assessment and load rating using nondestructive evaluation methods.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2(1696), 83–91.
Chakraborty, S., and DeWolf, J. T. (2005). “Development and implementation of a continuous monitoring system on a multi-girder composite steel bridge in Connecticut.” Proc., 4th Int. Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, Stanford Univ., Stanford, Calif., 222–229.
Cornwell, P. J., et al. (1999). “Environmental variability of modal parameters.” Experimental Techniques, November/December, 45–48.
DeWolf, J. T., Culmo, M. P., and Lauzon, R. G. (1998). “Connecticut’s bridge infrastructure monitoring program for assessment.” J. Infrastruct. Syst., 4(2), 86–90.
Fu, Y., and DeWolf, J. T. (2001). “Monitoring and analysis of a bridge with partially restrained bearings.” J. Bridge Eng., 6(1), 23–29.
Fu, Y., and DeWolf, J. (2004). “Effect of differential temperature on a curved posttensioned concrete bridge.” Adv. Struct. Eng., 7(4), 183–195.
Lauzon, R. G., and DeWolf, J. T. (2006). “Ambient vibration monitoring of a highway bridge undergoing a destructive test.” J. Bridge Eng., 11(5), 602–610.
Lengyel, T. F., and DeWolf, J. T. (2003). “Development and implementation of a continuous monitoring system of a concrete box girder bridge in Connecticut.” Proc., 4th Int. Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring, Stanford Univ., Palo Alto, Calif., 262–269.
Liu, C., and DeWolf, J. T. (2006). “Effect of temperature on modal variability for a curved concrete bridge.” Proc. SPIE, Int. Society for Optical Engineering, San Diego, 6174(119), .
Lloyd, G. M., et al. (2004). “Components of a real-time monitoring system for a segmental pre-cast concrete box girder bridge.” Structural Materials Technology. VI: An NDT Conf., Buffalo, N.Y., 281–288.
Lucas, J.-M., et al. (2003). “Thermal actions on a steel box girder bridge.” Proc., Institution of Civil Engineers: Structures and Buildings, SB2, 175–182.
Moyo, P., et al. (2004). “Highway bridge live loading assessment and load carrying capacity estimation using a health monitoring system.” Struct. Eng. Mech., 18(5), 609–626.
Olund, J. K. (2006). “Long term structural health monitoring of Connecticut’s bridge infrastructure with a focus on a composite steel tub-girder bridge.” MSc thesis, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn.
Plummer, M. C., and Kumar, R. (2000). “A cost-effective approach to large scale modal testing.” Sound Vib., January, 22–26.
Rytter, A. (1993). “Vibration based inspection of civil engineering structures.” Ph.D. thesis, Aalborg Univ., Denmark.
Sanli, A. K., et al. (2000). “Testing bridges by using tiltmeter measurements.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2(1696), 111–117.
Sartor, R. R., Culmo, P. E., and DeWolf, J. T. (1999). “Short-term strain monitoring of bridge structures.” J. Bridge Eng., 4(3), 157–164.
Virkler, C. D. (2004). “Continuous structural monitoring coupled with finite element modeling for a composite steel box-girder bridge.” MSc thesis, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn.
Wipf, T. J. (1991). “Use of tilt sensing equipment for monitoring long-term bridge movement.” Can. J. Civ. Eng., 18, 1033–1046.
Worden, K., et al. (2005). “Fundamental axioms of structural health monitoring.” Proc., 5th Int. Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring 2005: Advancements and Challenges for Implementation, Stanford Univ., Stanford, Calif., 26–41.
Zhao, J., and DeWolf, J. T. (2002). “Dynamic monitoring of steel girder highway bridge.” J. Bridge Eng., 7(6), 350–356.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 29, 2006
Accepted: Mar 27, 2007
Published online: Dec 1, 2007
Published in print: Dec 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.