16-11-2012, 11:29 AM
Computerized Bridge Monitoring System
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Introduction
Currently, vibration-based methods used to test bridges require shutting a bridge down and "exciting" it with a machine called a "shaker." The method is expensive and is not practical for bridges that have large amounts of traffic, Garcia said.
Under the proposed self-monitoring system, sensors placed on the bridge will be linked to a "data acquisition system" composed of an analog-to-digital signal converter and a small computer. The system will acquire data about the bridge's condition at specified intervals and report the results of the tests to a central computer. The self-monitoring system could allow transportation departments to regularly monitor critical bridges -- those that have exceeded their expected life, that experience heavier traffic than they were designed for, or that contain structural anomalies. It also could allow officials to make quicker, more accurate conclusions on the degradation and safety of the bridges, he added.
Blasting complaints are consuming an increasing amount of time and resources. This worsening situation has spawned new methods for relaying the public's concerns. The direct measurement of crack response to both long term environmental and blast vibration effects with the same sensor exemplifies one new approach, which can be helpful in the process of educating quarry neighbors about the large impact of the environmental changes. This comparison of long-term and vibratory crack response demonstrates that the silent response of cracks to environmental changes is larger than that produced by blasting, which is felt and heard.