Analysis on applicability of health monitoring techniques on a curved cable stayed bridge

Theoretical and experimental investigation (ambient vibration tests and permanent monitoring system) on the structural behavior of a curved cable-stayed bridge is presented in the paper. The investigated bridge - erected in the Commercial Harbor of Marghera (Venice, Italy) - was opened to traffic on January 2007 and includes six generally curved spans, where the two main (105 m + 126 m) spans are suspended by cable-stays, connected to the centerline of the deck. As a consequence of the spatial structural arrangement, the dynamic behavior of the deck appears very complex in both bending and torsion. In this paper, based on the experimental dynamic tests on a curved cable-stayed bridge carried out during construction phase in May 2006 and during public service in July 2010, finite element model was built and tuned accurately according to comparisons between experimental and theoretical analyses. Then, analyses were performed to investigate the applicability of monitoring techniques on the modal parameters, deformation, stress, and strain. In the end, suggestions and recommendations on the bridge monitoring system were discussed and presented. © 2012 Taylor & Francis Group.