IIT Mandi has developed an innovative method for monitoring ageing bridges using traffic data. This new approach focuses on critical areas, enhancing bridge safety and efficiency. Learn more about this breakthrough research and its practical benefits.

With its promising advance in the field of bridge safety technology, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi has designed an innovative way to track traffic data across ageing bridges. This pioneering research, led by Dr. Subhamoy Sen, Associate Professor at School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, brings forth a new way of looking at the health of bridges and promises a comprehensive shake-up in how their health can be assessed and managed.

IIT Mandi Research 2024: Tackling Bridge Fatigue and degradation

Dr. Subhamoy Sen and his research scholar, Eshwar Kuncham, have solved the critical problem of fatigue-induced damage and degradation of bridges step by step. The approach is toward understanding and monitoring the weak points more than providing an overly general, less-specific assessment. This targeted methodology enhances safety and efficiency by focusing on areas most susceptible to damage.

Recently published in the high-impact journal *Structural Health Monitoring*, ongoing research includes the construction of the digital model of the bridge. A virtual version of this structure is derived from an initial detailed study of the ‘real’ structure. Simulations predict how traffic variations affect different parts of the bridge over time. This information will then help experts pinpoint critical zones and where the potential damage might be.

Bridge Safety Technology: Real-Time Monitoring and Consolidating Data

Once all these areas are identified as critical, fatigue-sensitive sensors are fitted in strategic points along the bridge. Sensors measure the real-time stress and vibration inputs. These data are merged with the patterns of traffic coming from the computer model, thus enabling continuous analysis over time as to how the traffic is affecting the bridge. The results allow for timely interventions and adjustments into traffic flow and speed, thereby enhancing safety in bridges and preventing damage.

Traditional bridge RUL methods were often very simplistic in approach and based on generous safety factors in order to achieve reasonably acceptable results. The earlier work of these types of research areas, like rain flow counting and FEA, offered more sophistication in stress analysis and fatigue but were expensive with a high unit cost and high-cost equipment. These have, in more recent times, been improved using more accurate statistical methods as well as machine learning approaches but it are still limited to elderly bridges whose materials cannot be confirmed by any means.

Dr. Sen’s own approach is a giant leap ahead because he only focuses on the critical zones of the bridge. This not only reduces the associated costs that go with equipment for extensive monitoring but also makes the monitoring process practical and efficient. In our strategy, we keep monitoring only the critical zones within the bridge structure, thereby lowering costs and the quantity of equipment significantly. We make real-time assessments and provide timely inputs for safety and longevity of the bridge without causing major traffic hindrances,” said Dr. Sen .

Practical Benefits and Fast Assessments

This new method also allows for evaluations to be conducted very rapidly after earthquakes or floods. This allows decision-makers to be more prompt and better informed within their judgments of safety. Once the one-time installation is completed, successive measurements can be made by less trained staff, thus further saving costs and easier application of the method in numerous bridges.

This will highly exercise the management of very old infrastructure by government agencies and transportation departments. It improves budget management by focusing on high-risk areas rather than the whole structure of a bridge. More so, it allows for quicker decisions in case of emergencies and shortens the time needed to extensively manage traffic when inspecting, thereby causing less inconvenience to commuters.

This involves monitoring bridges using innovative applications for traffic data by the IIT Mandi research team, which is a huge leap in the safety and management of infrastructure. It focuses on the weakest parts of old bridges as it improves the safety and efficiency in maintaining them. This technology will surely enhance the monitoring and protection of critical infrastructure much better, ensuring public safety while ensuring that vital transportation networks are extended in life.