The concept and development of smart structures technologies for long-span cable-supported bridges

This article presents an overview of smart structures technologies in connection with long-span cable-supported bridges. Considering the broad scope of the smart structures technologies, two subareas, namely, structural health monitoring and structural control technologies, and their applications in long-span cable supported bridges, are identified as the focus of this review. It is believed that by, adopting the smart structures technologies, reliable operation and hazard management of long-span bridges can be achieved much more efficiently and can be made economically feasible, especially for bridges located at sites with, high risks of severe natural hazardous events, such as those facing the bridges of the Taiwan Strait Crossing project. The feasibility of and practical issues in implementing the smart structures technologies in the design and construction of long-span cable-supported bridges are also discussed here. Considering the time span of the construction of the Taiwan Strait Crossing, some of the innovative technologies with a high potential for future long-span bridge applications, while still at the stage of exploratory research at the time of writing, are also examined as it is believed these technologies might have become prevalent by the completion time of the Taiwan Strait Crossing project.