Collecting bridge performance data on an existing bridge is useful to understand internal forces that a structure experiences under service condition. A bridge that has provided service for more than eighty years is planned to be dismantled in August 2014. Generally when a bridge is decommissioned it is demolished with explosives for efficiency. However, this steel bridge will be dismantled one piece at a time because of its proximity to the new replacement bridge. This dismantling provides an opportunity to collect data of bridge member forces using sensors and wireless data acquisition system. The data will be used for validating computer simulation algorithm with real field data. The bridge that has been in the service for a long time generally weakens due to deterioration of material and due to loading of traffic. The collected data will help in understanding aging of the bridge. A relatively small amount of investment will provide rich data that will be useful to researchers in modeling life-cycle performance of a typical bridge.
This project will collect field data during dismantling of an old steel truss bridge. The data will be in the form of internal forces in truss members. Strain gages and wireless data acquisition system will be used to collect data of internal forces as the bridge is dismantled piece by piece. Since the bridge has been in use for more than eighty years there has been some deterioration of materials and connections. Detailed data on the existing condition of members and connections will be collected prior to beginning of the dismantling of the bridge. The collected data will be archived for later use by the principal investigator and other researchers to validate current numerical simulation algorithm. There is a potential of assessing uncertainties in modeling aspect of truss bridge structure as well as in environmental deterioration. Preliminary numerical simulation using available software will be pursued to assess efficacy of simulation of a bridge that has been in service.
