Motivation

The object of this research is to develop a framework for making decisions regarding Maintenance, Repair, and Replacement (MRR) for bridge infrastructure that will minimize expenses, while maximizing the line capacity and maintaining safe rail operations.

To make this work attractive and useful to the railroad industry, we use wireless smart sensor networks (WSSNs) for campaign monitoring of railroad bridges.

Such a system can be deployed periodically, in addition to long-term installations.

 Methodology

This research explores the practical use of wireless sensors for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of railroad bridges networks measuring parameters of interest to the railroad (in particular, bridge displacements). The hardware and software systems are exclusively developed by the Illinois Structural Health Monitoring Project. These sensors are designed for the continuous and reliable monitoring of civil infrastructure using a dense network of smart sensors.

The main objective of this research is to identify and propose the fundamental requirements for the development of SHM for railroad bridges safety, maintenance, and renewal operations using Wireless Smart Sensor Networks (WSSNs).

Results of this research will establish a new methodology for the assessment of railroad bridge performance probability using bridge measurements and bridge response limit states. This new framework will lay down a solid foundation for railroad-oriented applications in both long-term and campaign-style bridge monitoring.