BRIDGES

INTRODUCTION
Bridges are inherently beautifully designed to connect people and places. Bridges are architectural marvel and lasting structure that survives transportation. Deterioration of structure can be due to improper design, modification, natural degradation due to environmental effects, and due to man-made effects.
Like human, bridge also age with time.
  • Average age of bridge is 43 years.
  • Average defined lifespan of bridge is 50 years.
  • Average age of structural deficient bridge is 65 years.
Unfortunately, Bridges have misshapen throughout history and the consequences on humans and the environment have been very large. One need to monitor and qualify following 5 important aspects :
  • Detecting the existence of the damage on the infrastructure.
  • Locating the damage / porosity.
  • Identifying the types of damage.
  • Quantifying the severity of the damage.
  • Resolution
The impetus for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of national assets like bridges is not only dictated by the considerations for transportation, safety, commercialize and economy of a region, but also by the implications to the nation's defense and preparedness; thus, necessitating REAL TIME Structural health Monitoring (SHM) to become an important constituent of any bridge management system.
PRINCIPLES
Photonics Monitoring is breakthrough in NDT procedures. The systems are novel and innovatively uses principles of laser back scattering in the environment of operation. CATS is only company providing single laser Sensor that can monitor and records various Movement, Force, Environment, Acceleration, Displacements, Velocity, Load impact, damage detection, Sound etc. It is one of its kind non-contact & non-imaging technique for remote monitoring. Accurate qualitative and quantitative data is collected in real time using a single laser source as a function of time and space.
ATTRIBUTE
Real Time Condition & Vibration Monitoring : -
Maintaining bridges to prevent incidents is not easy, but can be made a lot simpler, safe and secured with a photonic monitoring system. VIDUR AND VEDA system can monitor and analyze in real time the condition of a bridge not only impacted by general wear and tear, load, but also due to weather including the water levels & pollution resulting to corrosion of reinforced steel in concrete due carbonisation.
Once the photonic system identifies the damage on bridge, Droneacharya with high resolution camera will be used to capture the details of damage. Photonic system will provide co-ordinates (Localisation) of Damage. The Drone will be directed to take capture live images of the damage. Thus, Photonic system will operate like brain to sense where the damage is or expected to be and Image processing will function as eyes recording the image of damage.
Inspecting entire submerged exterior of pier or abutments of bridge is challenging. Commercial divers were assigned with tasks to inspect bridge edifice. But this carried limitation related to low light, wreckage mapping etc. Visual Survey is now possible with so called under water drones or technically Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) to give an overall picture of integrity of the structure. The ROV can work against currents and hold its position facing the piers or other areas of interest.
The use of remote access techniques such as drones and ROVs will increase from general visual inspections to more in-depth techniques as technology improves and gets smaller
FUNCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
These real time VIDUR AND VEDA monitoring systems will substitute Routine Inspection Module (Rim) & Detailed Inspection Module (Dim). Vibration and Condition monitoring of bridge using Photonics enables the following crucial information related to structural integrity in real time, even under the impact of live loads (static and dynamic).
Accurately monitors vibration amplitude, velocity and acceleration in both time & frequency domains simultaneously, that elucidated to aesthetics, functionality, strength parameter, Balance service life and data analytics of bridge. This results in structural integrity.
  • Vidur scan's the entire structure for occurrence of geometric deformation, multi-point displacement and sub millimeter deflection in real time with dynamic loading, up to 1000 data points per second.
  • Highly sensitive and accurate compared to any conventional technologies.
  • Patterns / Trends of strain and deflection on real time can be analyzed and historical data can be mapped and Geo-coded.
  • Detects Cracks and damage due to Water seepage, delamination & porosity, Corrosion etc.
  • Condition of Foundations & Check for Settlement at the bottom of Piers.
  • Monitoring of a pre-stressed reinforced concrete
    Controlling the structural efficiency during the phases of construction.
  • Allowing in the future, the periodical check of the structural performance under service loads.
  • Veda monitor, and records Counts, Type, Speed & Weight of Vehicle / Pedestrian thereby ascertaining impact on columns and beams. The system can record overloaded impermissible vehicle as well.
  • Acoustic Emission monitoring technique of pre-stressed and post-tensioned concrete bridges.
Bridge health can be determined depending upon the age, traffic count, material of construction & Structural form. Thereby expected loss of service life, due to corrosion and expected balance service life of bridge can be evaluated.
ENABLER
The sensitivity and accuracy of the monitored parameters are very high compared to conventional sensor measurements. The multifarious advantages of the systems include smaller time responses, higher accuracies, one system to measure a host of parameters in the time, frequency and spatial domains and the freedom from many known constraints associated with conventional sensors.
AI can augment all modes of transportation to materially impact safety for all types of travel. It can be used in structural health monitoring and infrastructure asset management, providing increased trust from the public and reducing costs of repairs and reconstruction.
CATS AI and Cognitive sensor based architectural system integrated with AOT is composed of :
  • Few Photonic sensors installed based on bridge characteristics.
  • Images Processing, Communication devices, Dynamic Big Data that stores bridge condition data, Cloud based server that calculates and analyzes data transmitted from the monitoring devices.
  • A complete array of data collecting 1000s datapoint per millisecond provides useful information to the stakeholders on real time basis. Bridge operators or civil engineering team will be able to use cloud-based approach from any location to stay informed about the events related to bridge condition. It will be simple for stakeholder to take corrective action quickly and effectively in the following order. 
  • Once any parameter crossing threshold is earmarked by Photonic sensors with Geospatial information, Alarms signals can be set to inform the stakeholders of critical event. Individual can be assigned to gather visuals. Drone or ROV can be mobilized in case of inaccessible location.
  • A Report on extent of Damage and need of maintenance, repairs or replacement will be advocated by Artificial intelligence platform. For ex. Determining whether there are deviations from the target load and thereby assess the maintenance requirements.
  • Cognitive and deep learning abilities will support decision making during uncertainties and develop an intelligent, self-learning scheme will be personalized for each individual bridge.
Photonics, Image processing and IoT and AI are integral part of nervous system in monitoring bridge health and a way forward in predicting, preventing, protecting infrastructure. It is a paramount need to implement lethal combination of technologies which will continuously monitor condition of bridge. It is useful for public safety and reduction in human losses. The system will help in disaster management and recovery. PHOTONIC sensing delivers reliable and robust STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING solution that determines & detects, distinguishes & discriminates, locates & resolves multiple threats in real time.
Success is a process. Getting an idea and nurturing that idea every second wont lead to success but implementing that idea into reality will lead to success.
  • Photonic Sensors (Condition and Vibration, Environment, Ground Vibration), Fixed Cctv, Noise Recording & Artificial Intelligence (AOT) are all integrated on a Smart Pole.
  • CATS Smart Pole will be installed based on geography of bridge.
  • Installation of Number of CATS Smart Pole will depend upon span of bridge.
  • Drone / ROV will scan the bridge every quarter or if major deflection or damage is reported.
  • Weekly visual inspection of bridge will be done by individual.
  • Billboard will be installed to provide information of no. of Vehicles or pedestrian, Pollution and weather information and other important messages.
  • Any deviations from thresholds will be informed to immediate responsible engineer of the respective bridge. Severity of damage, if any will also be provided with geolocation and images if available.
  • Communication protocol can be SMS, Emails, Phone calls and hard copies.
  • Based on severity of Damage, Alarm / Alert will be escalated to higher up. Preventive measures while are considered, real time condition and change in characteristics of damage will be routinely informed.
  • In case repairs are not undertaken in scheduled time as estimated time, the bridge will be under obligation of shut down.
  • Plug and play SMART POLE installation on existing bridges is quick and easy.
  • Gathering constant data on the status of bridge optimises the maintenance cycle and allows for better modeling and long-term strategy making.
  • Photonics enabled with wireless sensing network has long range, easy to maintain and data transmission can happen from anytime, anywhere.
  • Data collection in real time ensures consistent and predictive maintenance.
  • Predicting incidents eliminates costly downtime, periods and loss of life. it also prolongs lifetime of the asset and delays the cost of replacing it.
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