SBIR-STTR Award

The ability to monitor the condition of a bridge structure to detect damage or changes in condition at early stages is of significant interest to many bridge owners. Currently, the most widely used damage detection methods rely on subjective, incremental visual assessments or localized testing techniques. In this proposal, we propose to develop and test a bridge structural health monitoring system that is low cost and efficient. The system combines various types of sensor information and provides early warning of critical structural problems through cooperative data processing and diagnosis. With minimal human intervention, the system can potentially achieve real-time "smart" health monitoring of primary and secondary bridge structures such as beams, truss, joints, welds that are critical for bridge integrity.

The ability to monitor the integrity of a bridge structure and detect damage or condition changes at early stages is of significant importance for bridge operation safety. Currently, the most widely used damage detection methods rely on subjective, incremental visual assessments or localized testing techniques. In this proposal, we propose to develop and test a low cost and efficient bridge structural health monitoring system. The system combines various types of sensor information and provides early warning of critical structural problems through cooperative data processing and diagnosis. With minimal human intervention, the system can potentially achieve real-time “smart” health monitoring of primary and secondary bridge structures such as beams, truss, joints, welds that are critical for bridge integrity. Besides steel bridge structures, concrete pavement monitoring is also very important. The proposed health monitoring system will also be applied to monitoring conditions of concrete structures from fresh concrete mix for quality control to aged structures for damage monitoring. The envisioned system has great potential for maintenance cost reduction and structural safety improvement. ---------- This is a supplemental Phase II proposal submitted to DOT for additional funding and performance period extension of the on-going DOT Phase II project (contract # DTRT57-10-C-10027). The overall objective of the Supplemental Phase II effort is to complete the development of the sensor system capable of continuously monitoring the integrity of bridge structures, conduct field operation validation test of the developed prototype system on real bridges, and collect long term sensor data for evaluation of the system accuracy and reliability. These efforts are considered critical for further maturing the proposed technology and commercializing the prototype bridge health monitoring system. The intended use scenario of the developed system is to provide early warnings and decision support to bridge maintenance staff for possible damages on the bridge and assist them in prioritizing maintenance actions. The system will supplement the existing maintenance practice by providing continued monitoring capability between the bi-annual routing bridge inpsections required per National Bridge Inspection Standards.