Structural health monitoring (SHM) uses one or more in situ sensing systems placed in or around a structure, providing real-time evaluation of its performance and ultimately preventing structural failure. Although most commonly used in civil engineering, such as in roads, bridges, and dams, SHM is now finding applications in other engineering envir

This book is a collection of papers presented in the NDT Conference held on February 20-23, 1996 at San Diego, California. The conference provided an opportunity to share experience and provide additional input to the Federal Highway Administration.

The fourth Structural Materials Technology NDT Conference was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with over sixty speakers presenting on a wide variety of topics. The goal of this conference was to inform engineers and researchers of the new nondestructive testing/nondestructive evaluation (NDT/NDE) technologies and techniques available for use in transportation construction. The use of alternative materials is challenging NDT/NDE professionals to develop new methods or modify existing techniques to address quality control, quality assurance, and long-term monitoring of structures built or strengthened with these materials. One such alternative is fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) products. This conference included papers on this topic and a panel discussion that focused on the future of NDT/NDE technologies for structures built or rehabilitated with FRP composites. These proceedings contain the 62 papers that were presented at the conference, arranged according to session number. An author index is included.

Effective maintenance of bridge structures comprises a broad spectrum of plans for repairs and services implemented to enable bridges to perform their intended function. These include in-depth inspection, fatigue analysis, design of mitigation measures and construction to avert component deterioration. Several incidents of in-service and under construction bridge failures have recently taken place. These dramatic failures emphasize the importance of risk-based inspections and analysis of real-life data to evaluate reliability of bridges. To effectuate benefits of reliability analysis in bridge maintenance, work on theoretical reliability must be equipped with practical analytical tools. Such an approach must underscore risk elements and identify processes to manage risk and avoid unexpected outcomes of failures and service disruption of bridges. The devastating earthquakes of February 6, 2023, in the southern region of Turkey near the northern border of Syria, which claimed tens of thousands of lives, caused enormous structural damage and staggering economic losses. These seismic events brought to focus on the vitality of instilling infrastructure routes that must accommodate emergency management plans to integrate the influx of medical and rescue response teams. The safe operation of bridges along these routes is indispensable for mobilization and deployment of rescue teams, medical personnel, humanitarian assistance, and the supply of food and water. The reliability of access routes and bridges is defined by their ability to adequately function as planned to effectuate emergency management plans, in the event of a similar seismic event, anywhere in the world. Risk-Based Strategies for Bridge Maintenance contains selected papers presented at the 11th New York City Bridge Conference (New York City, USA, 21-22 August 2023), and discusses issues of reliability, risk assessment, management, maintenance, inspection, monitoring, design, preservation, and rehabilitation of bridges. The book is aimed at bridge engineers.

This book, based on Transport and Urban Development COST Action TU1208, presents the most advanced applications of ground penetrating radar (GPR) in a civil engineering context, with documentation of instrumentation, methods and results. It explains clearly how GPR can be employed for the surveying of critical transport infrastructure, such as roads, pavements, bridges and tunnels and for the sensing and mapping of underground utilities and voids. Detailed attention is also devoted to use of GPR in the inspection of geological structures and of construction materials and structures, including reinforced concrete, steel reinforcing bars and pre/post-tensioned stressing ducts. Advanced methods for solution of electromagnetic scattering problems and new data processing techniques are also presented. Readers will come to appreciate that GPR is a safe, advanced, non destructive and noninvasive imaging technique that can be effectively used for the inspection of composite structures and the performance of diagnostics relevant to the entire life cycle of civil engineering works.

Sensors are used for civil infrastructure performance assessment and health monitoring, and have evolved significantly through developments in materials and methodologies. Sensor Technologies for Civil Infrastructure Volume I provides an overview of sensor hardware and its use in data collection. The first chapters provide an introduction to sensing for structural performance assessment and health monitoring, and an overview of commonly used sensors and their data acquisition systems. Further chapters address different types of sensor including piezoelectric transducers, fiber optic sensors, acoustic emission sensors, and electromagnetic sensors, and the use of these sensors for assessing and monitoring civil infrastructures. Developments in technologies applied to civil infrastructure performance assessment are also discussed, including radar technology, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology. Sensor Technologies for Civil Infrastructure provides a standard reference for structural and civil engineers, electronics engineers, and academics with an interest in the field. - Describes sensing hardware and data collection, covering a variety of sensors - Examines fiber optic systems, acoustic emission, piezoelectric sensors, electromagnetic sensors, ultrasonic methods, and radar and millimeter wave technology - Covers strain gauges, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), multifunctional materials and nanotechnology for sensing, and vision-based sensing and lasers