Bridge Monitoring Using a Digital Camera: Photogrammetry-Based Bridge Dynamic Deformation Monitoring

Bridge Monitoring Using a Digital Camera: Photogrammetry-Based Bridge Dynamic Deformation Monitoring

Monitoring the health of bridges uses various sensors and techniques and provides quantitative and reliable data on the condition of bridges. Among measurable quantities, vibration induced by traffic loads has been known as a good indicator of the condition of bridges, serviceability to pedestrians, fatigue analysis, etc. Here we use non-metric, off-the-shelf, Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera (DSLR) as a sensor and apply a photogrammetric approach to measure three bridges live load traffic vibration.

We first tested our approach with shake-table equipment and showed the reliability of the methodology we use through measuring magnitude and frequency of the shake-table, which was then applied to two highway and one local bridges. The results show that vibrational magnitudes are well within the design recommendations of the American Association of State highway Transportation (AASHTO) and that frequencies are in the range of similar bridges that previously published. Furthermore, by providing velocity and acceleration computed from camera derived displacement, we showed that the proposed method is cost-effective and feasible as well as having a good potential for bridge health monitoring.

report

Ahn, Y., Peterson, S., & Nazari, M. (2019). Bridge Monitoring Using a Digital Camera: Photogrammetry-Based Bridge Dynamic Deformation Monitoring (No. 19–29). Mineta Transportation Institute. https://transweb.sjsu.edu/research/1873-Bridge-Monitoring