Development of a remote laser scanning system for continuous monitoring of cable-stayed bridges

Conventional vibration measurement usually utilizes accelerometers. They are attached to selected measurement positions of a structure and wired to other equipments such as amplifiers and PC. At long-span cable-stayed or suspension bridges, measurement works involve the installation of sensors at high ground levels. Therefore, it is strongly needed to reduce the dangerous works and improve their efficiency. In this research, a non-contact and remote laser scanning system, which is the combination of a Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) and a Total Station (TS), was developed. At first, the developed system was evaluated at selected bridges. Then, in order to examine the practicality of the system, it was applied into measuring vibration of the Tatara bridge. As a result, the developed system is expected to apply continuous vibration monitoring of the whole long-span bridges.