Remote Monitoring Systems For Substructural Health Monitoring

Remote Wireless Monitoring Systems have made a large impact in the area of Structural Health Monitoring. However in the specialized sub-field of Substructural Health Monitoring, remote monitoring techniques have not made as much headway. First, monitoring systems are often retrofitted onto a structure. Therefore it is much harder to retrofit the substructure of a bridge or building. Second, many foundation elements such as driven piles or auger-cast piles are constructed in a way that makes installation difficult or can severely damage the sensing materials. This thesis presents two case studies of Remote Monitoring Systems for Substructural Health Monitoring applications that were carried out by the Geotechnical Research Department of The University of South Florida. The first is a thermal monitoring system for a Voided Shaft study. The second is a thermal, construction load, and ongoing health monitoring system of the St. Anthony Falls Bridge in Minnesota. Results show that the systems that were used provide adequate data collection, data storage, and data transmission. Furthermore, this data is easily analyzed and provided for public or private use on a dedicated website, which provides a fully automated and remote Substructural Health Monitoring System