Brief Description and the work performed by Resensys

Case definition: Ten (10) bridges in Pennsylvania have been monitored by Resensys monitoring system.

Problems:

  • Changes in pier orientation and stability
  • Over-acceleration (vibration) at piers and girders
  • Over-strain at girders and load bearing members
  • Vertical deflection at mid-spans
  • Propagation of existing cracks
  • Evaluating effectiveness of retrofit strategy
  • Lateral deflections/displacement at expansion joints or bearings
  • Obtaining load rating for bridges

How to address the problem: Wireless monitoring systems have been deployed at  bridges in Pennsylvania and based on the monitoring needs of each bridge:

  • High-resolution Tiltmeters: to monitor instability of piers
  • Medium-resolution Tiltmeters: to monitor tilting on rocker bearings
  • Accelerometers: to monitor vibration on the piers, girders and cables
  • Displacement/Crack Sensors: to monitor truss bearings, to monitor existing cracks width, and to monitor floor beams deflections
  • Longitudinal & Rosette Strain Gauges: to monitor load bearing and strain/stress on girders and floor beams, to monitor tension on cables
  • Cameras: to provide complete visual feedback of barge collision at piers
  • SeniMaxTM data loggers with remote communication gateways: to collect data from SenSpotTM gauges and send them to main server and SenScopeTM .

Results:

  • Detecting over inclination of piers as an early result and indication of hydraulic damage to prevent road/bridge closure and/or expensive repairs
  • Detecting overload structural members to prevent malfunctions of other structural members
  • Evaluation responsiveness of the bearings and expansion joints
  • Evaluation vertical and lateral deflections
  • Detecting and measuring vibration at piers and girders of the bridges
  • Evaluating effectiveness of retrofit strategy
  • Obtaining load rating of bridges by calculating load capacity and using the responses of members in conducted load tests
  • Monitoring width of existing cracks constantly
OWNERPennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)
SERVICE PROVIDEDRemote Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) System at 10 Bridges in Pennsylvania
DURATION2017-2022
SALIENT FEATURESRemote Monitoring System
Monitoring of girders, load bearing members, bearings, expansion joints, piers, cracks, deflection
Obtaining load test results
Detect barge collision with captured pictures
Smithfield St. Bridge
Smithfield St. Bridge
A tilt meter on the pier
A tilt meter on the pier
Wireless Accelerometer SenSpot™ on a pier of the Clairton-Glassport Bridge
Wireless Accelerometer SenSpot™ on a pier of the Clairton-Glassport Bridge

Photo Gallery

Elizabeth Bridge
Elizabeth Bridge
Wireless Longitudinal Strain gauge SenSpot™ for detecting over-load events at Neville Island Bridge
Wireless Longitudinal Strain gauge SenSpot™ for detecting over-load events at Neville Island Bridge
Neville Island Bridge
Neville Island Bridge
Wireless Displacement gauge SenSpot™ for monitoring deflections at Clairton-Glassport Bridge
Wireless Displacement gauge SenSpot™ for monitoring deflections at Clairton-Glassport Bridge
Wireless Strain gauge SenSpot™ for strain/stress monitoring at Smithfield St. Bridge
Wireless Strain gauge SenSpot™ for strain/stress monitoring at Smithfield St. Bridge
Wireless Displacement gauge SenSpot™ & Medium-resolution Tiltmeter SenSpot™ for monitoring expansion joints at Neville Island Bridge
Wireless Displacement gauge SenSpot™ & Medium-resolution Tiltmeter SenSpot™ for monitoring expansion joints at Neville Island Bridge
Wireless Accelerometer SenSpot™ on a cable of the Elizabeth Bridge
Wireless Accelerometer SenSpot™ on a cable of the Elizabeth Bridge
Wireless Accelerometer SenSpot™ on a pier of the Elizabeth Bridge
Wireless Accelerometer SenSpot™ on a pier of the Elizabeth Bridge