Assessment of Vibration Serviceability for Steel Cable-Stayed Bridges Using GNSS Data

Assessment of deflection and vibration serviceability is important for flexible structures such as long-span bridges. The purpose of deflection criteria in bridge design is to ensure user-comfort and structural safety by evaluating hazardous vibrations. The vibration of the bridge is mainly due to vehicular or wind loading. The objective of this study is to evaluate or assess the deflection and vibration serviceability by vehicular loading of steel cable stayed bridge based on experimental and theoretical studies. The test bridge is a cable-stayed bridge with a steel box girder and a main span length of 240 m. The bridge maintenance authority measures the deflection of the bridge using the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) in real-time. Accelerometers are also installed for the test, and measurements were performed for both a test truck and under normal traffic conditions. Measured data are compared with the theoretical values and evaluated against the deflection and/or vibration design criteria and other relevant research results. The results of this study can be used to provide a basis for deflection criterion in long-span bridges.