Bridge sensors now more "affordable, practical":
Advances
in wireless sensor technology are making bridge sensors affordable and
practical, engineers at the University of Maryland say. The devices could avert
the kind of bridge collapse that killed 13 and injured 145 on Minnesota's
Interstate 35-W five years ago today. "We no longer need to roll the dice
when it comes to the structural integrity of the nation's highway bridges,"
said Mehdi Kalantari, a research engineer.
BALTIMORE, July 31 (UPI) -- Five years after a
bridge collapse in Minneapolis, wireless sensor technology to prevent such
tragedies has become "affordable and practical," engineers say.
On August 1, 2007, Minneapolis' I-35W Bridge collapsed, sending more than 100
cars into the Mississippi River, killing 13 and injuring145.
Engineers at the University of Maryland say a new generation of wireless
sensors could prevent another tragedy by monitoring the nearly 150,000 U.S.
highway bridges -- about one in four -- listed by the federal government as
either "structurally deficient" or "obsolete."
"We no longer need to roll the dice when it comes to the structural integrity
of the nation's highway bridges," research engineer Mehdi Kalantari said.
"Technical advances in wireless sensors make real-time monitoring both
affordable and practical."
Researchers have developed a system of tiny, long-lasting, energy-efficient
low-maintenance wireless sensors and software that analyzes real-time data
collected, a university release reported Tuesday.
Many bridges, including the replacement span in Minneapolis, now used use
wired networks of sensors to detect problems, but these wired systems are
generally too expensive to retrofit all the old bridges that need them,
Kalantari said.
A few dozen tiny wireless sensors, strategically placed on small to
medium-sized bridges, could measure prime factors such as strain, vibration,
deformation, pressure, tilt, inclination, displacement, crack activity, humidity
and temperature at less cost than current technology, he said.
Read
more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Technology/2012/07/31/Wireless-system-could-make-bridges-safer/UPI-73761343770466/#ixzz22Jc6okVK
No comments:
Post a Comment