Development of a wireless sensor network system for suspension bridge health monitoring

A wireless sensor system has been suggested and tested in the place of forty five sensors of five types among the sensors used extensively in suspension bridges to prove the viability of wireless sensor network in actual implementation. ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) is used for short-distance communications among sensors and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) for long-distance wireless communications with remote locations. A data logger is integrated with a sensor and ZigBee into a one-channel data logger that combines sensor, logger and digital communication modules to allow for the addition or replacement of a sensor with ease. Lastly, the wireless sensor network-based bridge health monitoring system proposed herein is developed in the form of an application that is intended to ensure universal applicability and designed to maximize the ease of wireless sensor network. ► Reliable bridge structural health monitoring using wireless sensor network. ► Wireless sensor network test on a large suspension bridge. ► ZigBee for local sensor network and CDMA for long distance data transferring. ► Antenna type and memory buffer are important for the network reliability.