Implementation of the Structural Health Monitoring systems for bridges

Abstract

In recent decades, the use of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems for monitoring the degradation states of new or existing bridges has seen an accelerated development. This is primarily due to the need of the administrators to have access to a wider range of information directly from the structure to facilitate decision-making on the necessity and urgency of maintenance work. SHM systems are also an important tool for design engineers to track the behaviour both during the execution and in the exploitation of new materials or innovative designs.
As time passes, construction materials and, by implication, bridges age and are subjected to various types of degradations that lead to structural and traffic damages, sometimes quite significant. By implementing a SHM system and monitoring data from it, degradations are identified from the very early stages of their development, when the cost of remediation and the damage of the entire construction are much lower. The efficiency of using these types of systems, maintenance and repairs done as quickly as possible ultimately develops into an increase of the structure lifetime, resulting in significant material benefits that can be oriented toward the investment sector. Additionally, administrators may use the information provided by the SHM systems to better manage the limited budget and resources available, which makes it more efficient to allocate funds to keep the entire road network in optimal viability.
In the present paper, the authors deliver a brief presentation of the applicability of the monitoring systems, both of new structures and those already in operation, along with the aims and benefits of implementing such systems. Finally, the article briefly presents three examples of structures benefiting from tracking time behaviour through SHM systems.