Comparison of ranking frameworks for specification of bridge scour monitoring systems using a case study database

Abstract

Hydraulic actions resulting in scour are a major cause of bridge failures worldwide. The development of scour is affected by various factors including structural geometry, river morphology and weather conditions. Detection of scour is often carried out using visual inspection-based methods. Visual inspection requires the expertise of divers which incurs high levels of risk, especially during times of high-water flow. Therefore, sensing technologies are becoming increasingly popular with the aim to supplement or replace higher risk visual inspection approaches. Specification of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems is an important activity for bridge engineers and asset managers. This activity can be assisted by SHM rating frameworks, the use of which gives evidence to support specification of monitoring systems for individual bridges. In this paper, three previously published scour rating frameworks are compared using a bridge case study database.