Assessment of Analysis Algorithm for TDR Bridge Scour Monitoring System Under Various Conditions

Bridge scour presents the biggest threat to the safety of bridge substructures. There are high risk associated with scour induced damages due to the catastrophic nature of failures. Developing innovative bridge scour monitoring system is a pressing task for the research community. Such system needs to be accurate, rugged and field worthy. Amount these, an important task is to implement automatic signal interpretation. The authors of this paper have developed an innovative TDR system that can accurately monitor the status of scour and sedimentation process. This paper discusses various aspects to ensure a robust algorithm for bridge scour estimation. The influence of different types of sediments, the conditions of river (including the salinity and the effects of high air entrainment and suspended sediment), as well as potential application in dry river channel on the analyses equation are assessed. The study indicates the scour monitoring algorithm based on the general design equation we developed is accurate under these various conditions. This hold promise to develop a robust algorithm to automate the bridge scour monitoring system.