Integration of Structural Health Monitoring into Multilayer Statewide Bridge Maintenance and Management Practices

Project Details
STATUS

Completed

PROJECT NUMBER

10-367

START DATE

09/01/14

END DATE

09/30/18

FOCUS AREAS

Infrastructure

RESEARCH CENTERS InTrans, BEC, CTRE, MTC
SPONSORS

Iowa Department of Transportation
Midwest Transportation Center
USDOT/OST-R

Researchers
Principal Investigator
Brent Phares

Bridge Research Engineer, BEC

About the research

For this project, the researchers developed a new structural health monitoring–facilitated condition-based management (SHM-CBM) maintenance prioritization system. This system represents an important step toward more widely integrating SHM into practice.

The kernel of the proposed SHM-CBM system is establishing a ranking index for each bridge in a particular inventory that establishes a maintenance funding priority for each bridge. A higher ranking index value indicates a lower maintenance funding priority. The ranking index is computed using both National Bridge Inventory (NBI) and SHM data, as well as user inputs.

A case study of the I-80 Sugar Creek Bridge showed that replacement could be postponed by up to 37 years using SHM-CBM because the condition of the bridge was determined to be better than what was previously assumed. This potential extension of service life in combination with expected maintenance, repair, and monitoring costs were used in a cost-benefit analysis that showed SHM system implementation is financially justifiable.

The SHM-CBM approach has the following advantages over current decision-making approaches:

  • Continuous and near-real-time SHM data are used in decision making
  • Wide range of quantitative data can be gathered using SHM (e.g., strain and temperature, chloride infiltration, tilt, and corrosion)
  • Reduced uncertainty regarding structural performance
  • Elimination or reduction of over-maintenance and deterioration or failure due to a lack of information about a bridge’s true condition

Funding Sources:
Iowa Department of Transportation ($63,195.00)
Midwest Transportation Center
USDOT/OST-R ($66,002.00)
Total: $129,197.00

Contract Number: DTRT13-G-UTC37

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