ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The Massachusetts Port Authority has contracted consultant services for the structural modeling and instrumentation of the Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge. The consultant team, led by Fay, Spofford, & Thorndike, LLC, and supported by Tufts University, the University of New Hampshire, and Geocomp, Inc., began work on this project in the fall of 2008. This paper will present those representative analytical structural models, including several special studies focused on the rotational stiffness of the truss connections, boundary conditions, and built-up member properties. An instrumentation plan that included strain gages, accelerometers, tiltmeters, and temperature sensors was developed and deployed for the Little Mystic span of the Tobin Memorial Bridge during the winter of 2009. The collected data will be used to verify the analytical structural models. These models and instrumentation plans will be used as part of the structural health monitoring and condition assessment program for the management of the Tobin Memorial Bridge.
