BridgeMon Project Successfully Completed
The end of November 2014 sees the completion of the BridgeMon project.
The project has lasted for two years and has led to the development of a number of significant improvements in the technologies and services which are available for carrying out detailed monitoring of bridges. The capability of Bridge Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) technology to collect accurate information on traffic loading has been enhanced, with the SiWIM® system achieving class A(5) accuracy for gross weights. This represents a significant advancement in the field of Bridge-WIM, and provides evidence that Bridge-WIM technology can compete amongst the most accurate WIM technologies in the world.
A detailed monitoring campaign in the Netherlands has demonstrated how the ‘virtual monitoring’ technique can be used to estimate fatigue damage in steel bridges. In this case, Bridge-WIM technology was combined with a detailed finite element model of the structure which allowed an investigation into the remaining fatigue life of the bridge.
BridgeMon has been a great success and the results should allow the SMEs and bridge owners to avail of the latest technologies for monitoring bridges.