This report discusses the implementation of long-term structural health monitoring systems on three bridges in the State of Connecticut. The project began with the development of a generic set of guidelines for using readily available monitoring equipment to serve as a basis for designing long-term systems. These were then used to design individual monitoring systems that were tailored to each bridge, using sensors for strain, temperature, tilt and vibration. Monitoring has been conducted on a continuous basis, with excitation provided by normal traffic loading. The goal has been touse long-term monitoring to learn how bridges behave over multi-year periods and to use data obtained from the monitoring systems to establish the basis for long-term structural health monitoring.
Abstract