Structural health monitoring of concrete bridges

Knowledge of the integrity of in-service structures on a continuous time basis is an ultimate objective for owners and maintenance authorities to facilitate the development of a life extension and/or replacement strategy. The advances in sensing and information technologies and material/structure damage characterization have resulted in a significant interest in developing diagnostic systems for monitoring structural integrity. The comparison of measured and calculated data in order to tune and validate the mechanical and numerical model assumptions is an integral part of any system analysis. Finally, the interpreted results of all measurements should be the basis for the condition assessment and the safety evaluation of a structure.