Connecticut's Bridge Infrastructure Monitoring Program for Assessment

A joint effort between the Connecticut Department of Transportation and the University of Connecticut has been underway since 1984 to use different monitoring approaches in the assessment of the state's bridge infrastructure. This program has involved both short-term and long-term studies to provide information on performance under routine traffic of a wide spectrum of bridge types. Most short-term studies have been used to provide information on connections, members, and diaphragms. These were done to assess the need for replacement or repair or to ascertain that the component or portion of the bridge was behaving as designed. The long-term studies have been conducted to develop information on global behavior, both for evaluation purposes and to study approaches which may be used for identifying structural integrity problems. This paper reports on the history of this bridge monitoring program, with the major findings. It also reports on the beginning of a multiphase effort to install continuous monitoring systems on different types of bridges in the State of Connecticut. The goals are to demonstrate the feasibility of using monitoring systems to supplement field evaluations and to collect information that will be used in the management of the state's in-service highway bridges.