Highway Bridge Assessment Using an Adaptive Real-Time Wireless Sensor Network

A real-time wireless sensor network platform capable of maintaining lossless data transmission over several minutes of continuous, high-rate sampling is presented in this paper. The platform was designed specifically to provide the capability to enable expeditious system identification, as well as load rating of highway bridges without compromising the typical data acquisition parameters employed in comparable cable-based tests. Consequently, the hardware signal conditioning interface permits data collection from a variety of sensors typical to structural health monitoring, including accelerometers, strain transducers, and temperature sensors. The embedded software features a proprietary network transmission protocol capable of lossless, real-time delivery of up to 40 measurement channels at an effective sampling rate of 128 samples per second per channel. Documented in this paper is a field study on an end-of-service highway bridge in which ambient vibration monitoring was performed using 60 accelerometers interfaced with 30 wireless sensor nodes operating within one of two simultaneously operating star topology networks. In addition, an experimental load rating of the entire structure was performed through large-scale strain measurement facilitated by the same wireless sensor network platform.

[1]  Jason T. DeJong,et al.  Integral abutment bridge behavior: Parametric analysis of a Massachusetts bridge , 2007 .

[2]  P. Sharma.  Mechanics of materials. , 2010, Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine.

[3]  Ratneshwar Jha,et al.  Operational modal analysis of a multi-span skew bridge using real-time wireless sensor networks , 2011 .

[4]  Daniel G. Linzell,et al.  Predicted and Measured Response of an Integral Abutment Bridge , 2005 .

[5]  Matthew J. Whelan,et al.  Design of a Robust, High-rate Wireless Sensor Network for Static and Dynamic Structural Monitoring , 2009 .

[6]  Jerome P. Lynch,et al.  A summary review of wireless sensors and sensor networks for structural health monitoring , 2006 .

[7]  Yang Wang,et al.  Output-only modal identification of a cable-stayed bridge using wireless monitoring systems , 2008 .

[8]  Osman Hag-Elsafi,et al.  Load Testing for Bridge Rating: Route 22 Over Swamp River , 2006 .

[9]  Guido De Roeck,et al.  Damage identification on the Z24-bridge using vibration monitoring analysis , 2000 .

[10]  Bart Peeters,et al.  System identification and damage detection in civil engineering , 2000 .

[11]  Charles R. Farrar,et al.  Dynamic characterization and damage detection in the I-40 bridge over the Rio Grande , 1994 .

[12]  David E. Culler,et al.  Design and Implementation of Scalable Wireless Sensor Network for Structural Monitoring , 2008 .

[13]  Helmut Wenzel,et al.  Ambient Vibration Monitoring , 2005 .

[14]  Glauco Feltrin,et al.  Damage Identification Using Modal Data: Experiences on a Prestressed Concrete Bridge , 2005 .

[15]  Yang Wang,et al.  Performance monitoring of the Geumdang Bridge using a dense network of high-resolution wireless sensors , 2006, Smart Materials and Structures.

[16]  Jay A. Puckett,et al.  Design of Highway Bridges , 2006 .

[17]  Gongkang Fu,et al.  Signal versus Noise in Damage Detection by Experimental Modal Analysis , 1997 .

[18]  C. E. Ventura,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF DYNAMICS OF QUEENSBOROUGH BRIDGE , 1995 .

[19]  Guido De Roeck,et al.  REFERENCE-BASED STOCHASTIC SUBSPACE IDENTIFICATION FOR OUTPUT-ONLY MODAL ANALYSIS , 1999 .

[20]  Ratneshwar Jha,et al.  Real-time wireless vibration monitoring for operational modal analysis of an integral abutment highway bridge , 2009 .

[21]  F. C. Hadipriono,et al.  ANALYSIS OF RECENT BRIDGE FAILURES IN THE UNITED STATES , 2003 .