ABSTRACT
Many existing prestressed concrete bridges are currently in a poor structural condition with calculative deficits concerning the load bearing. To extend their service life, structural health monitoring could be an effective method. In addition to the permanent surveillance of damage, structural performance could be monitored. Through distributed fiber optical sensing technology, the change of strain along a defined sensor length is measured. Especially local unexpected crack formation can be detected as it can occur on prestressed bridges due to the fracture of single wires in a tendon. On two prestressed highway slab bridges, fiber optical sensors were applied as a part of a major infrastructural monitoring project. An evaluation of the data was made with the help of calibration tests in the laboratory and in in-situ load tests. Furthermore, the influence of temperature on measurements and the accuracy of the measurement system were analyzed.
