SHMS-BASED STUDY ON WIND CHARACTERISTICS OF TYPHOON KALMAEGI AT SUTONG BRIDGE

The Sutong Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with the longest main span in the world. Located in the coastal region of southeast China, the bridge is vulnerable to the Pacific typhoons and other strong winds. In order to obtain the turbulent characteristics at the bridge site, 3D ultrasonic anemometers, as part of the Structural Health Monitoring System (SHMS), are used to collect wind data. In this paper, wind data during the passage of Typhoon Kalmaegi are analyzed. The wind data from two anemometers, one at the top of the tower (306m in elevation) and the other at the mid-span (76m in elevation), are considered in the study, and the data are averaged over 10 minutes. Wind characteristics, including mean wind speed and direction, turbulence intensity and gust factor, power spectral density and integral scale of turbulence, are presents in details. Comparisons are made between different wind characteristics of Kalmaegi, as well as the calculated values and those recommended in the current code. Besides, the results of Kalmaegi are compared with other similar studies. The conclusions are summarized to provide references for wind resistance evaluation of the bridge.