Development of an Advanced Warning System for Fracture Critical Steel Bridges - Phase II

Principal Investigator(s):

Arturo Schultz, Former Professor, Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering

Project summary:

With bridge infrastructure in Minnesota aging, advancing techniques for ensuring bridge safety is a fundamental goal of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). As such, developing health monitoring systems for fracture-critical bridges is an essential objective in meeting the stated goal. This research project acquired, tested, and installed a 16-sensor acoustic emission monitoring system in the Cedar Avenue Bridge, which is a fracture-critical tied arch bridge in Burnsville, Minnesota. The overall goal of the project was to demonstrate that acoustic emission technology could be used for global monitoring of fracture-critical steel bridges. Project activities included the acquisition of the monitoring equipment, its testing to verify compliance with manufacturer specifications, installation of the equipment on the selected bridge, field testing to calibrate the system, development of data processing protocols for the acoustic emission (AE) data, and the collection of field data for a period of 22 months. Fracture tests of notched cantilever steel beams were conducted in the laboratory to provide characterization data for fracture events.

Project details:

  • Project number: 2011029
  • Start date: 09/2010
  • Project status: Completed
  • Research area: Infrastructure
  • Topics: Bridge design and sensing

Reports or Products: