State-of-the-Art Sensing Technologies for Transportation Infrastructure Condition Assessment

摘要

This paper has described two examples of the application of fiber-optic sensing for structural damage assessment of bridges. The success of these and other projects answers many of the concerns that have limited their application. For example, the I-10 project showed the feasibility of remote fiber optic monitoring and the variety of data that can be obtained. The I-40 project demonstrated the importance of a comprehensive statistical analysis. While it may not be logical to instrument most bridges this way, it may be appropriate to instrument those that are either particularly unique, to learn about distinctive damage mechanisms and deterioration characteristics, or those that are particularly representative, to expand knowledge for the most widely deployed designs. Although retrofitting may be costly, emerging technologies make it possible for sensors to be attached/embedded at the time of construction. In addition, with such advances such as xml and digital programmable logic chips allowing platform-independent database generation, potential benefits to agencies as a whole are great.