Framework for Identifying Shear Cracking in Bridge Columns Using LiDAR

The researchers will be testing bridge columns near the critical intersection of shear and flexural failure that aims to help the prioritization of bridges for seismic retrofit. That testing, along with the terrestrial lidar equipment housed at the UW’s RAPID Facility, offer an opportunity to explore the use of lidar to map cracks and subsequently use the crack information to correlate with failure modes and remaining capacity of reinforced concrete bridge components. There are several algorithms in the literature and available through open repositories such as GitHub that use lidar-derived point clouds to identify, map and measure cracks. Such algorithms will not need to be developed as part of this project, but instead the existing ones will be utilized to identify and characterize the cracks in the test columns. This project will focus on developing the link between the cracking (pattern and magnitude), the likely failure mode (shear or flexural), and the remaining capacity. Such information may be generalized to help inspectors understand what types of cracks are most problematic and might lead to deteriorated structural capacity. That information is relevant to inspection of both existing and new construction.

• Record URL:
  • https://abc-utc.fiu.edu/framework-for-identifying-shear-cracking-in-bridge-columns-using-lidar/

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $82,500.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348322

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Innovative Bridge Technologies/Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (IBT/ABC-UTC)

  Florida International University
  Miami, FL  United States 

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Washington, Seattle

  Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
  201 More Hall, Box 352700
  Seattle, WA  United States  98195-2700
• Principal Investigators:

  Berman, Jeffrey

• Start Date: 20250101
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge engineering; Reinforced concrete bridges; Remote sensing
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01973312
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Innovative Bridge Technologies/Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transportation Center (IBT/ABC-UTC)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348322
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Dec 2 2025 4:24PM