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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

Research Engineering Group: A Proposal for the Continuation of Various Program Activities

OVERALL RESEARCH OBJECTIVE The objectives of this program are to develop and promote advanced structural health monitoring (SHM) and non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques among transportation infrastructure owners. These techniques allow owners to improve their ability to determine infrastructure condition and maximize useful life through quantitative and repeatable measurements of critical engineering quantities. A major focus of the Research Engineering Group (REG) effort is on bridges. However, the research has been and will continue to be applied to other critical infrastructure components whenever a technology can be matched to a need. Our nation is faced with infrastructure needs in excess of currently allocated resources. Improved communication of best practices and new technologies - such as structural health monitoring - will help infrastructure owners to preserve and maintain our transportation network. The REG's field research activities and interactions with practitioners specifically address:  USDOT goals for safety,  National Strategy for Surface Transportation Research goals for safety, maintenance, and rehabilitation of highway structures, and  Federal Transit Agency - Advanced Transportation Research basic research focus. PROGRESS AND CURRENT STATUS OF RESEARCH OVERVIEW The REG has made substantial progress with the research goals outlined in our SAFETEA-LU Year 4 proposal. However, not all research priorities have been addressed during these first eight months of work. Two tasks from our year 4 proposal have yet to begin, the work with Metro North Railroad and Caltrans. We are still in active negotiations with those partners and expect to begin work summer 2011. This is normal and expected due to the variable nature of our deployment partners' schedules and priorities. We have adapted to conditions and thus far focused resources on the work described below: 1) The REG has re-installed and expanded the SHM system at the bearing assembly on the I-65 JFK Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky. The third retrofit was installed in early 2011when we applied new instrumentation and monitored the installation process. 2) The USH-2 Montreal River Bridge monitoring system in Hurley, Wisconsin was maintained and the data being gathered continues to be analyzed by NU students and faculty. REG engineers presented the finished project website to WisDoT in December 2011at their Madison Wisconsin headquarters and also provided training in the use of its live and historical data display tools. 3) The CTA Devon and Sheridan Road El overpass monitoring system and project data website were completed. The site continues to be maintained and the data being gathered continues to be analyzed by NU students and faculty. REG 3 engineers presented the finished project website to the CTA in September 2011 at their downtown Chicago headquarters and also provided training in the use of its live and historical data display tools. The work was also featured in a November 28th , 2011 Chicago Tribune article. 4) We support Midwest Bridge Working Group meetings with technical assistance, presentations, and participation in discussions. The 2010 winter conference was videotaped and archived for on demand viewing while the upcoming Spring 2011 meeting will be webcast live and archived for on demand viewing. 5) We provided support for Civil Engineering student activities, such as field excursions and the CAD class (GEN_ENG 220) A completely new task not listed in the Year 4 proposal was also completed this year. Based on prior ITI work with the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) using continuously monitored tiltmeters for scour mitigation, ITI engineers were invited to tour five scour prone bridges in California and to propose new monitoring solutions. REG engineers proposed a wireless tiltmeter system and selected the Trancas Creek bridge in Malibu California, which is scheduled for installation summer 2011. While touring the bridges with CalTrans engineers we learned that although California implemented the ITI developed tiltmeter based scour monitoring technique statewide, their inhouse data management was troubled. REG engineers offered to immediately demonstrate our web based data management techniques again by posting the CalTrans collected data. As of this writing, ITI is providing an improved web based scour data display for ten bridges state wide in parallel with the CalTrans system.

Language

  • English

Project

  • Status: Completed
  • Funding: $1222243.87
  • Contract Numbers:

    610 4742000 60022751

    A221

  • Sponsor Organizations:

    Infrastructure Technology Institute

    L260 Technological Institute
    2145 Sheridan Road
    Evanston, IL  United States  60208-3109
  • Principal Investigators:

    Marron, Daniel

  • Start Date: 20080307
  • Expected Completion Date: 0
  • Actual Completion Date: 20130831
  • Source Data: RiP Project 20237

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01490575
  • Record Type: Research project
  • Source Agency: Infrastructure Technology Institute
  • Contract Numbers: 610 4742000 60022751, A221
  • Files: UTC, RIP
  • Created Date: Aug 23 2013 1:01AM