Smart Monitoring (SM) systems are gaining popularity in a variety of industries since they are proving to be very effective integrity management tools for civil and industrial assets. SM systems work through a network of sensors that collect data on the condition of structures such as bridges, buildings, dams, highways, railways, tunnels, pipelines, vessels and offshore platforms. The data collected by the sensors are then analyzed in order to detect damages or changes in the structure that could affect its performance, allowing real-time monitoring of the structure’s health.
D’Appolonia is an experienced and reliable partner for the design and implementation of Smart Monitoring systems. Our experience covers a wide range of assets. For example, we were contracted by Siemens to design, supply and install a network of hybrid sensors to provide a real-time permanent monitoring of the structural condition of the Izmit Bay Bridge in Turkey.
Izmit Bay Bridge, named Osman Gazi Bridge, is the world’s fourth longest suspension bridge with a main span of 1550 m. The bridge is an essential part of the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway project, a huge infrastructure project that will connect Istanbul more directly with Turkey’s third- and fourth-largest cities Izmir and Bursa. The project, scheduled to be completed in 2018, will drastically decrease travel time between Istanbul and Izmir, from nine hours to three-and-a-half hours.
D’Appolonia has successfully installed a network of sensors on the Izmit Bay Bridge (consisting of 2D and 3D accelerometers, Fiber Optic Sensors (FOSs) measuring strain and temperature, static and dynamic inclinometers, WIM sensors, GPSs, load measuring pins, force transducers, monostrand load cells, humidity sensors for external conditions, sonic distance sensors, hygrometers, barometers, anemometers, rain gauges and pyranometers). These sensors transmit data to Data Acquisition Units (DAUs) and then to a Main Frame Server (MFS) where the data are processed and stored.
The SM system offers early damage detection and warning systems and will therefore greatly contribute to the safety of the Izmit Bay Bridge, which has been built in a highly seismic region. Other benefits of the SM system are a better understanding of the structure’s response under various working conditions, an optimization of inspection programs and the possibility to adopt a Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) strategy replacing more time-consuming and expensive qualitative visual inspections and time-based maintenance procedures. Other benefits of the SM system are that it provides an enhanced knowledge base for the future introduction of new design solutions, materials, construction processes or structural strengthening solutions. Finally the SM system will make it possible to extend the bridge’s lifetime thanks to detailed monitoring of the structure’s current condition.