Experimental Investigation of Drive-by Bridge Inspection

This study presents a vibration-based health monitoring strategy for short span bridges utilizing an inspection vehicle. How to screen health condition of short span bridges in terms of the drive-by bridge inspection is described. Feasibility of the drive-by bridge inspection is investigated through a scaled laboratory moving vehicle experiment. The feasibility of using an instrumented vehicle to detect the natural frequency and changes in structural damping of a model bridge is observed. Observations also demonstrate the possibility of diagnosis of bridges by comparing patterns of identified dynamic parameters of bridges through periodical monitoring. It is confirmed that the moving vehicle method identifies the damage location and severity well.