Smart timber bridge on geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) abutments

Christopher Adam Senalik; James Wacker; Travis K. Hosteng; John C. Hermanson

Treesearch

Smart timber bridge on geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) abutments

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Christopher Adam Senalik, James Wacker, Travis K. Hosteng, John C. Hermanson

Year:

2017

Type:

Paper

Station:

Forest Products Laboratory

Source:

In: Proceedings, ICTB 2017, 3rd international Conference on timber bridges 2017. Skellefteå, Sweden. 11 p.

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Download (PDF 565 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/55184.pdf

Abstract

Recently, Buchanan County, Iowa, has cooperated with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), and Iowa State University’s Bridge Engineering Center (ISU–BEC) to initiate a project involving the construction and monitoring of a glued-laminated (glulam) timber superstructure on geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) integrated bridge system (IBS) abutments. The research team from FPL installed sensors in the substructure as well as in the bearings of the girders. In addition, the research team from ISU– BEC installed sensors on the superstructure that create an autonomous structural health monitoring system for the bridge. Data are collected remotely and transmitted continuously around the clock every day. Long-term monitoring enables researchers to evaluate GRS–IBS system performance with respect to variables of time, ambient conditions, and loading.

Keywords

Geosynthetic reinforced soil, health monitoring, timber, glulam, substructure, superstructure

Citation

Senalik, Adam; Wacker, James P.; Hosteng, Travis K.; Hermanson, John. 2017. Smart timber bridge on geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) abutments. In: Proceedings, ICTB 2017, 3rd International Conference on Timber Bridges. Skellefteå, Sweden. 11 p.