Structural Health Monitoring of a Long-span Cable-stayed Bridge

ABSTRACT: Proper selection of methods and instruments for structural health monitoring (SHM) of bridges will assure reliability, durability, and lower life cycle costs. This article provides a case study for in-service monitoring of a recently built long-span hybrid cable-stayed bridge, Queshi Bridge, in southern China. Three parameters, namely the cable forces, main structure deformations, and their vibrations are monitored with different methods at regular intervals over a time period of about four years. The results to date are very encouraging as the SHM systems installed in the bridge have been able to provide vital information about the state of health of the bridge to the transportation authorities. Key Words: cable-stayed bridges, health monitoring, cable force, deformation monitoring, vibrational characteristics