UCII: On-Line Bridge Monitor

Monitor Summary:

The HAM-126-0881L test specimen is a typical reinforced concrete deck on steel girder bridge. It is located along Ronald Regan Cross County Highway at Hamilton Avenue in the northwest part of Cincinnati, OH. It was constructed in 1996. As part of the construction project UCII was contracted to design and install an instrumented monitoring system on the structure. One component of this system, the high-speed monitor, is designed to automatically capture real-time bridge live load structural responses together with parameters of the vehicle that caused them.

The system consists of several sensors, a camera, a weigh-in-motion scale, a digital data acquisition system, and a PC running a custom software package which integrates, coordinates, and controls the function of each system component, archives raw data, processes the data, and posts results to the web on a continuous basis. Data for each vehicle of sufficient size (vehicle code of 5 or greater) is posted to the web. In addition, the data is automatically processed in order to obtain Allowable Stress and Load Factor Inventory and Operating ratings for both HS20-44 and laneloads at the worst case locations on the bridge (as per AASHTO guidelines). These ratings are also posted to the web in real-time. Finally, various statistics regarding vehicles, live load responses, and ratings are collected and updated continuously to the web.

It is hoped that this system will serve to demonstrate some of the capabilities of automated, intelligent monitoring and to help bridge engineers establish a deeper understanding of bridge performance and the factors that effect performance.

This research is supported by Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.