Integrated Structural Health Monitoring in steel arches bridges using continuous dynamic monitoring: two case studies in China

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is going to be a standard tool for bridge management as a decision support for maintenance. Different strategies have been proposed in literature, using different devices and data analysis tools. This paper shows how dynamic monitoring system should be an interesting support for maintenance in steel arch bridges subject to marine environmental condition. The case study deals with two steel arch bridges that are fundamental lifeline connections in the island of Xiamen, China. The monitoring system consists in an integrated data analysis from different sources, such as vibrations from accelerometers, strain from linear strain gauge (located on the rigid suspenders, on the vault and on the cross-section of the arch rib of the bridges), and finally environmental conditions considering temperature and humidity. The paper presents results obtained using data stored in a long period under different climate and load conditions, and how they should be used for a reliable bridge management.