Structural Monitoring — Bridges Monitoring Solutions
Geotechnical Monitoring is used to detect problems and threats in structures, bridges, railways, walls, mines, tunnels, and every other kind of construction. An important part of civil engineering, geotechnical monitoring is used to prevent mishaps and accidents, thereby saving a lot of lives, money, and time. Since we are talking specifically about bridges today, this comes under structural monitoring.
What is structural monitoring?
Structural monitoring is a process of executing a damage detection and characterization strategy for engineering structures such as bridges, building, etc.
This takes place in the form of installing sensors that notify the required person of a change. It includes observing the system over time, using the data from an array of sensors to determine damage-sensitive features, and analysing them to calculate the current health of the structure and if it needs any change/construction. This is done pre and post-construction, and even to ancient structures, ensuring that every structure is as solid as it can be.
In this article, we will be focusing mainly on Bridges and Encardio-rite’s solutions and services.
Structural Monitoring — Bridges
With the ever-growing number of cars and population, we have seen a growth in bridges. India is a land of a large number of rail and road bridges that prove to be an important component of the transportation network. The damage or collapse of a bridge leads to a pause in the transportation system which disrupts the smooth function, and there is the fear of loss of life and property.
When it comes to railway bridges, they have a documented and systematic manner in which they are checked and maintained. The IBMS(Indian Bridge Management System) carries out conditional surveys and monitors all bridges on the National Highway. With the growing numbers of bridges, safety becomes a paramount consideration.
Bridges represent a major investment for society, and the safety levels are expected to be higher than in other parts of transport as the failure of the bridge has grim consequences in material and human life. For this reason, bridge monitoring is an essential and integral part of having a well-functioning structure.
With the help of modern technological capabilities, we can make use of bridge vibrating data which gives a near real-time assessment of the bridge condition. The vibration measurements that are obtained can be used to determine the behaviour of superstructure, soil, dampers, bearings, and other bridge components. As they interact under actual operation conditions, it becomes easier to evaluate the characteristics of bridges, estimate the mechanism activated under the vibration levels, and then decide whether to confirm or change the modelling …[Continue Reading]
