Traffic Response Pattern of Cable-Stayed Bridge as a Comparison Tool for SHM

A cable-stayed bridge across the Danube in Bratislava, Slovakia with a 303 m length of the main span was monitored and subsequently the data were used for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). It was necessary to record the traffic in order to be able to incorporate it into the numerical analyses of the dynamic response of the bridge subjected to a well described dynamic load synchronized with the camera records. For the test’s purposes a 28 channel National Instrument system has been used. The vibrations – displacements time series of a few control points on the bottom of the bridge deck have been also acquired using an interferometric radar IBIS-S located below the bridge. A precise FEM model was used to compare the measured values - accelerations and displacements with those from the time history analyses. Response spectra have been compared as well. A specific traffic situation (pattern) was selected from the traffic stream that can be used as a comparison tool for future SHM of the bridge.