Monitoring bridge scour using fiber optic sensors : [tech summary].

Details

• Creators:
  Cai, Steve C. S.
• Corporate Creators:
  Louisiana Transportation Research Center
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Bridge Foundations Fiber Optics Instrumentation Laboratory Tests Scour Sensors Structural Health Monitoring
• Publication/ Report Number:
  State Project No. 736-99-1573 ; LTRC Project No. 08¿2ST
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  Louisiana
• Corporate Publisher:
  Louisiana Transportation Research Center
• Abstract:
  It is well known that scour is one of the major causes of bridge failures. In the last 30 years, more than 1,000 bridges collapsed in
  
  the US and about 60% of the failures are related to the scour of bridge’s foundations. Due to the difficulty in inspecting bridge
  
  scour, scour-induced failures tend to occur suddenly without prior warning or signs of distress to the structures. Owing to the
  
  threat of hurricane-induced flooding and the fact that there are a significant number of coastal and river/bayou bridges in
  
  Louisiana, a more reliable inspection and monitoring procedure for bridge scour is needed.
  
  Fiber Optic Sensors (FOSs) have become increasingly popular in long-term monitoring of structures, especially in harsh
  
  environments. The FOSs’ major unique benefits related to this project are: corrosion-resistant and long-term stability that make
  
  it possible to be embedded in soil/foundations and submerged in water; distributed sensing and multiplexing capabilities that
  
  make it possible to install a series of sensors along a single cable to collect information along the depth of the foundation; small
  
  size and light weight with little disturbance to the structure and soil; immunity to electromagnetic/radio frequency interference,
  
  etc. FOS system, particularly fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors, has been explored for this application by using it to measure
  
  strain and other related information so that the scour situation of bridges can be either directly
  
  monitored or derived.
  
  This project will help Louisiana develop the required expertise for the field applications of
  
  fiber optic sensors. The success of this research project will reap great economic benefits and
  
  may largely impact the practice of bridge maintenance in Louisiana. There is also potential for
  
  this project to develop and test equipment that can be used for future scour monitoring. The
  
  ultimate objective will be to develop more efficient strategies to mitigate the deficiencies of
  
  bridges.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:bd493e504d215f36bc4cddd962240dd4a87b50ae1f9a8e0593606e3592db5064
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28835/dot_28835_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 365.30 KB ]