Monitoring of Scour Around Bridge Piers and Abutments

AbstractScour of the riverbeds around bridge supports is the most frequent cause of their failures. Maintenance and repair costs of the bridges damaged by scour effects are significant, but it is estimated that the social costs are five times higher than the direct repair and replacement costs.The bridge supports are subjected to the scour effects due to the erosive action of the flowing water, involving soil loosening from the bottom and the banks of the watercourse. The condition for the proper monitoring of scour is to understand its nature. The knowledge of the phenomena occurring during the high water flow in the area of the bridge supports is crucial to properly assess the current condition and to develop proper maintenance actions.Scour may be the consequence of:•narrowing the watercourse – a natural or man-made, including construction of a bridge,•lateral movement or lowering of the stream bed,•hydraulic works shortening the length of the meandering section of the watercourse,•changes occurring in the catchment area of the watercourse,•other changes in watercourse hydrology.Construction of a bridge in the certain area disturbs natural stream flow conditions, especially the flood water and may change the terms of the normal water flow. The presence of a bridge causes the stream flow cross-section reduction, which increases the speed and intensity of erosion of the streambed. River tends to stabilize its bed in order to restore the natural flow section. Bridge supports also change the laminar water flow and turbulent flow.Scour present around a bridge supports can be monitored by the mobile and fixed devices.Portable scour monitoring devices are mainly: different types of probes such as: sticks, tape or rope with weights and bars used by divers and sonar acoustic measuring devices.Stationary equipment is used for continuous or regular scour monitoring of the bridge supports of the bridge, for example once a day, once a week. They are stationary devices including various types of robotic probes and stationary hydroacoustic measurement systems. Stationary device can be installed on a support or near the bridge, usually at the head of the pillar, or in the ground near the bottom of the watercourse. It should be installed near the site of the anticipated greatest scour. The device interacts with the data logger, which can be read on the site or transmitted to a remote control unit.The article presents the principles of scour monitoring near the bridge supports, developed during the project “Monitoring system for bridge supports and their surrounding areas” co-founded by the Polish National Centre for Research and Development under the program Innotech. During the project monitoring system for bridge supports was developed with specialized software for online data visualization. The article presents selected measurement results from the sonar measurements

The Use of Cluster Analysis to Evaluate the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Daily Water Demand Patterns

Proper determination of unitary water demand and diurnal distribution of water consumption (water consumption histogram) provides the basis for designing, dimensioning, and all analyses of water supply networks. It is important in the case of mathematical modelling of flows in the water supply network, particularly during the determination of nodal water demands in the context of Extended Period Simulation (EPS). Considering the above, the analysis of hourly water consumption in selected apartment buildings was performed to verify the justification of the application of grouping by means of k-means clustering. The article presents a detailed description of the adopted methodology, as well as the obtained results in the form of synthetic distributions of hourly water consumption, and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their change

Egzoszkielet na rękę - koncepcja i rozwój w ramach grantu "Rzeczy są dla ludzi"

The Institute of Computer Science and the Faculty of Mechatronics at Kazimierz Wielki University, together with Edurewolucje Sp. z o. o. z/s in Bydgoszcz, received funding under the 'Things are for people' competition of the National Centre for Research and Development for the project entitled 'Development of a functional arm exoskeleton for active training and rehabilitation'. The aim of the project is to carry out research and development work leading to the development of an innovative technology allowing for the independent rehabilitation ofpeople with special needs (with the participation of rehabilitators and physiotherapists). The project envisages the construction of a prototype of a mechanical rehabilitation robot, the so-called hand exoskeleton, which will support the process of rehabilitation of people with paresis and other specific needs regarding lack of mobility in the hand area. The project will develop specialised, dedicated software that will adapt the strength and type of work of the hand exoskeleton to the current needs and goals of the patient's rehabilitation programme. The aim ofthis paper is to provide an insight into the origins and development of the above concept within the project team during the project work to date.Instytut Informatyki oraz Wydział Mechatroniki Uniwersytetu Kazimierza Wielkiego wraz z firmą Edurewolucje Sp. z o. o. z/s w Bydgoszczy w ramach konkursu Narodowego Centrum Badań i Rozwoju "Rzeczy są dla ludzi" otrzymali dofinansowanie na realizacjęprzedsięwzięcia pn. „Opracowanie funkcjonalnego egzoszkieletu ręki do aktywnego treningu i rehabilitacji”. Celem projektu jest realizacja prac badawczo-rozwojowych prowadzących do opracowania innowacyjnej technologii pozwalającej na samodzielną rehabilitację osób zeszczególnymi potrzebami (przy udziale rehabilitantów i fizjoterapeutów). Projekt przewiduje skonstruowanie prototypu mechanicznego robota rehabilitacyjnego tzw. egzoszkieletu ręki, który wspomoże proces rehabilitacji osób z jej niedowładem oraz innymi szczególnymipotrzebami dotyczącymi braku mobilności w obszarze ręki. W ramach projektu powstanie specjalistyczne, dedykowane oprogramowanie, które będzie dostosowywało siłę i rodzaj pracy egzoszkieletu na rękę do aktualnych potrzeb i celów programu rehabilitacyjnego pacjenta. Celem niniejszej pracy jest przybliżenie powstania i rozwoju ww. koncepcji w ramach zespołu projektowego podczas dotychczasowych prac projektowych