Campaign Monitoring of Railroad Bridges in High-Speed Rail Shared Corridors using Wireless Smart Sensors

Abstract

This report describes research results using wireless smart sensors to develop a cost-effective, practical, and portable structural health monitoring system for railroad bridges in North America. The system is designed for periodic inspection rather than as a permanent installation to enable campaign-style bridge response monitoring under in-service conditions. The system described herein measured bridge responses from a 310 feet long steel truss bridge using wireless sensors and calibrated a finite element (FE) model using the measured data to obtain global and local (at elements level) bridge responses under varied train loads and speeds. Additionally, this project developed a new simple beam model that can predict critical speeds and resonances based on train traffic properties. The results from this pilot project provide a technological foundation to develop campaign monitoring sensor technology as an important tool with which to manage railroad bridge assets.Financial support for this research was provided in part by the Federal Railroad Administration under Grant No. BAA-2010-1 No. DTFR53-13-C-00047, entitled “Campaign Monitoring of Railroad Bridges in High-Speed Rail Shared Corridors Using Wireless Smart Sensors” (Cameron Stuart, Program Manager).Ope