Maintenance monitoring system design of a movable bridge

Movable bridges are important intersection points for both highway and marine traffic. Federal agencies and movable bridge owners in the United States broadly address the need to effectively manage and maintain these complex structures. Movable bridges are unique structures due to the complex interaction between their structural, mechanical and electrical systems and mechanisms. These mechanisms provide versatility to movable bridges; however, their intricate interrelation also produces some operation and maintenance challenges. Problems related to their locations (e.g. proximity to waterways) and fatigue (stress fluctuations during the operation) also increase the maintenance cost of the movable bridges which is significantly higher than that of the fixed bridges. Operation, maintenance and repair are particular challenges for movable bridges because of their unique design. Therefore, continuous monitoring of these structures is essential to improve maintenance operation, to decrease the maintenance costs, to track and evaluate performance and to provide solution alternatives to these issues. In this study, the authors first provide an overview of the recent experiences from monitoring design and implementation on a representative movable bridge in Florida. The paper reviews a) issues and monitoring needs for the maintenance and safety of movable bridges, b) design of the sensing, data acquisition and communications; c) field implementation and challenges; d) analysis and information generation for safety, reliability and maintenance.