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
State Project No. 736-99-1573 ; LTRC Project No. 08¿2ST Less -
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:

Supporting Files

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