Structural Health Monitoring for Braila Bridge

Challenge

The Braila Bridge will be highest bridge over the Danube River in Romania, connecting the Dobrogea region to the rest of the country. The suspended bridge over the Danube will have a length of 1,900 m, plus two side openings, one on the shore to Braila and one on the shore to Tulcea.

RINA secured a contract from the JV “Astaldi S.p.A. - IHI Infrastructure Systems” for the design and realization of a Structural Health Monitoring System (SHMS) for this suspended bridge.

More specifically, we will have in charge the design and supply of a distributed network of hybrid sensors to provide a real-time permanent monitoring of the structural condition of Braila Bridge during its operative life.

Approach

Several typologies of sensors will be installed to have an overall monitoring of the most important physical parameters. The sensors system will consist of:

• 2D and 3D accelerometers
• Fiber Optic Sensors (FOSs) measuring strain and temperature
• Static 2D inclinometers
• Tri-axial anemometer
• Load measuring pin
• Air temperature sensors
• etc.

In particular, the horizontal displacement at deck end level will be monitored with ultrasonic displacement sensor. Furthermore, GPS sensors and static/dynamic inclinometers will be installed on the deck and at the top of towers to monitor the movement of the towers.

Data processing will be performed by a management platform customized for Braila Bridge and the most suitable computing scheduling strategy will be agreed with IHI - Astaldi JV and put in place during the management platform development phase.

According to the application area and the purpose of the SHM, the following services will be provided as per other similar assets on which Smart Monitoring solutions are applied:

• Monitoring system design, through selection and integration of the most appropriate technologies
• Factory Acceptance Test (FAT), SHM installation, Site Acceptance Test (SAT) and training, system commissioning & post-commissioning maintenance
• Data collection, storage, handling, validation, visualization and generation of warnings and alarms
• Data analysis and processing to provide "operationally relevant information", including anomalies and damage detection
• Advanced data analysis and estimation of the residual life of main/critical structural components
• Assessment of the response of a structure under real operational conditions
• Automatic reporting functionalities for the support of maintenance planning.

Conclusion

This project is particularly strategic in the frame of large infrastructures asset integrity because it arises in continuity with the previous work on the design and realization of Structural Health Monitoring System of Osmangazi Bridge in Turkey.

For this strategic project, our Smart Monitoring team has gained during last years a proper know-how, experience and several references on different assets (e.g. buildings, viaducts, tunnels, off-shore platforms, etc.) to fulfil competency requirements needed in this frame.