Computer Vision Oriented Framework For Structural Health Monitoring Of Bridges

Novel structural health monitoring strategies for better managing of civil infrastructure systems (CIS) are increasingly becoming more important as CIS are aging and subject to natural and man made hazards. Bridges constitute a critical link of the transportation network hence; any damage or collapse could result in loss of humans\u27 life and also has a negative effect in regional and national economy. The objective of this research is to propose and implement a novel framework for structural health monitoring of bridges by combining computer vision and a distributed sensors network that allows not only to record events but to infer about the damaged condition of the structure. Video stream will be used in conjunction with computer vision techniques to determine the class and the location of the vehicles moving over a bridge. The video input will also be used for surveillance purposes. A database will be constructed using information from vehicles training sets, experimental results from the sensors network and, analytical models. Then, the proposed system, by interpreting the images and by correlating those with the information contained in the database, will evaluate the operational condition of the bridge and/or will emit alerts regarding suspicious activities