Monitoring and response of CFRP prestressed concrete bridge

Abstract

This paper presents data obtained from automated monitoring of the Bridge Street Bridge-Structure-B, in the City of Southfield Michigan. This data was stored every two hours from vibrating-wire strain gages, thermistors, deflection transducers, and load cells installed within the bridge. Examples of the variation of strains, temperatures, and deflections along the three-spans of the bridge and strains and forces in longitudinal unbonded post-tensioned tendons, and forces in the transverse unbonded post-tensioned tendons are presented. In addition to the data collected from the automated data logging system, manually collected data are also presented on the same data plots for ease of correlation between manually read and automated collected data. The measured concrete strains, deflections, and forces in the longitudinal and transverse post-tensioned tendons over a period of one year indicate that the bridge is performing as expected. The monitored response of the bridge also demonstrates that the unbonded post-tensioned tendons and their anchorages are intact and effectively serving within the environmental conditions encountered at the bridge. Moreover, the results also demonstrate the integrity of the bridge in both longitudinal and transverse directions. © 2005 Springer.