A case study of integrating IoT technology in bridge health monitoring

Abstract

Research on Internet of Things (IoT) and relevant applications has attracted more and more attention from both academic and industrial communities. In this paper, we focus on a particular use case of IoT, bridge health monitoring that ensures bridge health security and detects hidden defects of the infrastructure. Using total station technology, acceleration sensor technology and fiber grating technology, this application monitors a wide range of parameters, e.g. deformation of bridge structure, relative displacement of arch foot level, skewback uneven settlement, main beam distortion, suspender force, rid temperature and strain of main beam, in real time and online, so as to collect, transmit, store, statistical analyze bridge health information, and perform remote monitoring and warning timely and accurately. Our system improves the comprehensive monitoring efficiency, assists decision-making for bridge monitoring, management and maintenance and ensures the safety of the bridge infrastructure. The paper based on real-life scenarios, offering IoT technology in the health monitoring application case study at the Yan-Cheng Century Avenue Tong-Yu River in the Jiangsu province. Our paper demonstrates how the theory is combined with practice in real-life project, that will provides useful insights and learnt lessons to projects aiming at similar applications. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.