ABSTRACT
In this paper, a new condition assessment method of existing short- and medium-span reinforced/prestressed concrete bridges was proposed based on vibration monitoring data obtained from a public bus. This paper not only describes details of a prototype monitoring system that uses information technology and sensors capable of providing more accurate knowledge of bridge performance than conventional ways but also shows a few specific examples of bridge condition assessment based on vehicle vibrations measured by using an in-service public bus equipped with vibration measurement instrumentation. This paper also describes a sensitivity analysis of deteriorating bridges based on simulation of the acceleration response of buses conducted by the “substructure method” employing a finite element model to verify the above bridge performance results.
