ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the most relevant aspects related to the dynamic testing and continuous monitoring of large-scale civil infrastructure. The conventional modal testing of large civil structures requires the use of heavier and more expensive equipment, such as eccentric mass vibrators or even, if possible, servo-hydraulic shakers, which have the remarkable advantage of providing a wideband excitation over the frequency range of interest. The automatic identification of the modal parameters is performed based on the ambient vibration response continuously measured by the dynamic monitoring system. Dynamic testing of Civil structures have evolved in general from forced vibration tests, based on classical procedures from Mechanical Engineering, to ambient and free vibration tests, which became the most practical and efficient techniques more and more used for the accurate identification of modal properties during construction, commissioning or rehabilitation stages.
