3.2.1. Structure Description

Experimental studies were conducted on a highway bridge across a river. It is a 7-span metal bridge with reinforced concrete supports. The foundations for pylons are piled. The length of the bridge is about 700 m. The bridge has 2 traffic lanes. As a result of the abnormal operating impact, the supports #1 and #5 sank in by 112 mm and 44 mm, respectively. After that it was decided to install an SHM-system on this bridge.

Preliminary studies consisted of 3 main stages, the objectives of which were: determination of the AE parameters of noise signals, determination of propagation parameters of the AE signals and determination of the optimal arrangement of the sensors on the bridge construction elements [12,13]. Investigation of the possibility of AE signals detection used Hsu-Nielsen source for location and filtration.
