One of the essential infrastructural components that are highly used in many developed and developing countries globally is bridges. Bridges contribute a major part to the infrastructure and economy of any country. Whereas, it is estimated that over 73% of all metal structures are prone to gradual deterioration. If not detected and maintained in time, crucial bridge components may fail suddenly and lead to catastrophic consequences. Therefore, Smart Bridge Monitoring Systems are being developed and implemented with the help of the latest technological advancements in every country. The need for a web-based solution, ease of implementation, and the presence of less-expensive cloud options are leading to an increase in the use of onsite and remote monitoring systems. According to research conducted by Persistence Market Research, the global Bridge Monitoring System Market was estimated to be valued at $4,412.8 Million in 2017 and is anticipated to enhance at 13% annually through the period of 2021 to 2031. With the age of global infrastructure increasing and reaching significant levels, countries are investing millions in infrastructure spending such as transportation and energy. The growth in market value will be driven by high capital investment in structural health monitoring across various industries such as transportation, growing adoption of smart structures technologies, and the long replacement cycles of these systems.
What is a Bridge Health Monitoring System?
The Bridge Health Monitoring System (BHMS) is primarily being used for effective bridge health assessment and monitoring. Governments across countries are investing millions in bridge health monitoring systems, thus the existing and new bridges will require reliable and efficient monitoring systems in terms of installation, testing, validation, and maintenance. Bridge health monitoring systems are web-based automated system that helps keep an eye on the structural health parameters of a bridge to ensure durability, strength, reliability, and safety. Bridge health monitoring is the use of specialized sensors and software to collect data on existing or new structures. This data is then used to manage the maintenance of these structures over their lifetime. The complete health monitoring of bridges is an important task that needs to be carried out by the engineers to ensure structural integrity and efficiency. These structural monitoring technologies require a great amount of capital as well as expertise to be set in place.
When it comes to structural health monitoring, there are two kinds of systems:
- Non-intrusive structural health monitoring includes fiber optic sensors or temperature sensors and requires the installation of additional equipment to the structure.
- Intrusive is the process of putting sensors directly into a structure.
What is the Need for Bridge Health Monitoring?
There are bridges all over the world, and many were built hundreds of years ago. Many of these structures may incorporate innovative materials but due to harsh environmental loading and impacts, they are subjected to deterioration and damages, making them less and less safe to use and possibly leading to collapse. The bridges across various countries are highly prone to degradation over their lifetime. Several factors including corrosion and abrasion, chemical reactions, high moisture content, weather conditions, and the effects of traffic load on the structures can cause damage. While bridges are built to be resistant to natural elements and human weight, that does not always mean it is completely durable. There will come a time when the deterioration of a certain structure can be either gradual or rapid and structures need monitoring for repairs and maintenance. Most of the time, without any warning. It is vital to maintain and alter bridges to improve their safety as well as to protect our citizens.
Structural health monitoring of bridges will help protect these travelers by detecting the damages or degrading that may cause the failure. The structural health monitoring of bridges depends on proper maintenance and alteration during regular utilization. Structural monitoring of a bridge helps you to understand how the behavior and performance of your structures change over time.
Web-based Solutions - A Boon for Bridge Monitoring
Keeping track of the structural integrity of large structures (like bridges) is a tedious and time-consuming task. While there are technologies that can help with this process inspections have to be performed on-site. For example, when assessing bridge health and monitoring their response to environmental conditions, it is challenging to predict and measure long-term behavior from data captured with periodic inspection. In an attempt to find a solution for more efficient bridge monitoring, engineers have developed new ways of analyzing and delivering data about structures — including bridges.
Therefore, the demand for web-based solutions for Bridge Health Monitoring has increased at a significant rate. This is attributed to the key factor that technology has advanced considerably, which has paved the way for various web-based solutions for bridge health monitoring all over the world. The bridge health monitoring solution includes a suite of Web-based applications that help the bridge owner and its engineering team in managing all maintenance-related activities. It will provide an effective, flexible, and intuitive way to continually monitor the structural performance of critical systems.
One of the main reasons to implement a Web-based system for bridge health monitoring is the availability of all the information at any time. The web-based interface allows all engineers to monitor the data online and to make decisions based on this information. There is no need to drive to places where bridges are located just to fetch some data which might become very useful later.
Types of Web-based solution for Bridge Health Monitoring
- Sensors: Many advanced types of sensors have been developed to continuously monitor structural conditions through real-time data collection. Sensors are capable of providing timely information about the past, present, and future health of a structure. There are various types of field sensors available to monitor variations of categories such as Environmental parameters, Operational & environmental loads Bridge response, etc. of the bridge for bridge health monitoring.
- Data Loggers and readout units: The Data Loggers are usually fitted with sensors to measure the static and dynamic parameters. All this data can then be recorded and analyzed at a later date during which changes in real-time readings will be visible. This ensures that proper actions can be taken as soon as possible to ensure the longevity and safety of the bridge.
- Sensor Network: Sensor Networks are collections of smart devices that collect and exchange data over a computer network. The idea behind sensor networks for bridge health monitoring is to discover, detect, and diagnose damage before it becomes critical. Sensor networks are a fast-evolving technology that has the potential to prevent many bridge failures before they happen. Encardio Rite offers a range of Sensor Networks such as SDI-12 sensor networks, RF sensor networks, Ethernet sensor networks, EtherCAT sensor networks, NTP (Network Timing Protocol), etc.
- Typical Instrumentation Scheme: An instrumentation scheme is a set of instruments to monitor and control any industrial activity. It is based on the carefully defined measurement methodology to measure industrial parameters. Instrumentation is the use of measurement to provide information on the state of a process happening in a system. This information is represented by physical quantities and their temporal trends/changes. It is captured as data at different points in time, and eventually collected and used to evaluate changes in the performance of buildings.
- GNSS: In recent years, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has become widely used in bridge health monitoring for deformation monitoring and dynamic characteristic analysis of bridge structures. This is because of the advantages being offered by the system such as high precision, the ability to perform in all weather conditions, and the absence of inter-visibility between measurement points. With the great application of GNSS, bridge failure can be detected and warned as early as possible, for the safe operation of the bridge.
- Data Management Software: Data management software is a program that will allow you to centralize all of the data from your bridge monitoring system. They are designed to handle large amounts of real-time data from a variety of sensors to assess bridge performance in real-time.
Structural Monitoring Simplified with Encardio Rite Group
Bridges are essential to the infrastructure of a city, but if not properly monitored and maintained, they can be dangerous structures. That’s where Encardio Rite steps in. Encardio Rite is a world-class manufacturer of bridge monitoring and inspection systems, providing you with the most effective, accurate, and efficient way to monitor your bridge. Encardio Rite provides a variety of instruments that measure different parameters affecting bridge structure. These include load cells, resonant frequency meters, ultrasonic sensors, GNSS, various data management software, etc. These custom-built instruments are also widely used in civil, mechanical and hydroelectric & nuclear power plants across the world. Make an informed decision on the structure of health monitoring with Encardio Rite’s long-term and reliable products that provide real-time data. Manufactured using the best available materials, our products are designed to withstand harsh conditions and deliver accurate information.