Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges: State of the Art

Infrastructure is a vital component for the development of countries, where bridges in particular are a segment of infrastructure that are vital for the society. As bridges age they could show signs of deterioration that can be caused by continuously being subjected to traffic loads and environmental effects. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a modern technology to monitor the structural performance through the continuous collection of data. The method enables engineers to monitor the health of the structure during its operation, in order to plan for maintenance when any signs of failure are observed from the very beginning. This paper covers a detailed overview of the state of the art of various types of SHM systems implemented on long-span cable-stayed bridges and suspension bridges all around the world. A variety of cases, sensors, and methods of obtaining and studying the data to monitor the structural health of bridges are evaluated, showing the importance of installing SHM systems in long-span bridges.