Scour monitoring of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge

Sonar fathometer monitoring devices will be placed at five piers of the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River. This is the first design of a multiple station sonar system using results of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), Project No. 21-3. The NCHRP project developed and tested various fixed scour monitoring devices for bridges. The sonar device is connected to a datalogger that provides a historical record of the streambed elevation. This is also the first time these devices will be utilized to measure scour in a combined tidal and cold weather environment. The Woodrow Wilson Bridge pier scour monitoring system incorporates several new features including: simultaneous monitoring of multiple piers; telemetry of data between the piers; an automatic alerting system that employs a voice synthesizer; electronic retrieval of streambed elevation data from a base site computer; corrosion-resistant stainless steel transducer mounts; and protective shields for the transducer mounts.