Monitoring temperature effect on a long suspension bridge

The Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong is a long suspension bridge. A wind and structural health monitoring system (WASHMS) has been installed in the bridge and operated by the Hong Kong Highways Department since 1997. The WASHMS is devised to carry out the monitoring of environmental status, traffic loads, bridge features and bridge responses. The environmental status includes temperature environment monitored by temperature sensors, whereas the bridge responses contain displacement responses recorded by displacement transducers, level sensing stations, and global positioning systems (GPS). Bridge displacement responses are, however, induced by a combination of four major types of loadings due to wind, temperature, highway, and railway. This investigation focuses on the temperature environment and the predominating temperature effect on the Tsing Ma Bridge. The main features and the pertinent monitoring system of the Tsing Ma Bridge are first introduced. The data collected from the four types of sensors are pre-processed. The statistics of ambient air temperature, effective temperature and displacement response of the bridge are then figured out based on the measurement data. The statistical relationship between the effective temperature and the displacement of the bridge is finally established. These results are useful for monitoring temperature effects on the Tsing Ma Bridge. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.