Structural Audit of Sadhu Vaswani Pul using Institutionally Developed Displacement Sensors.

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to conduct the structural audit of the Sadhu Vaswani Pul which is a Rail Over Bridge, situated in Koregaon Park, Pune and to establish the displacement sensors developed in the institution as a reliable test for structural auditing of the bridge decks. Traditional methods of auditing like the Rebound Hammer test and the Ultrasonic pulse velocity tests have been considered in this study. Very few methods are available for testing the deck displacement and this problem has been tackled here. The novelty of this research is that the institutionally developed displacement sensors are used for determining the deck displacement of the selected bridge. These sensors have not been used before and no on-site techniques are available to obtain the deck deflections under real-time loading. The displacement test on the decks was conducted. The critical decks which were determined during the Visual Inspections were tested by the displacement sensors. A two-axle truck of 18.5 tonnes was passed over the bridge deck and the displacement readings were recorded at the same time. The displacement reading thus obtained indicated the deflection of the deck under a uniform rolling load. The displacements obtained were then validated by the standards given in AASTHO-LFRD. After conducting the above tests, the overall condition of the bridge was determined and the critical sections which should be repaired were mentioned.