| The Indian River Inlet Bridge is a vital link between northern and southern Delaware's tourist beach locations. The current bridge is a five-span continuous steel-girder bridge. Due to large tidal flows in the inlet, the existing bridge has a significant scour problem and the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) has commissioned the design and construction of a new bridge. The new bridge will be a signature structure that spans the entire length of the inlet: 1,000 ft. The Center for Innovative Bridge Engineering (CIBrE) will take part in instrumenting the bridge with a sophisticated structural health monitoring system. This system will help verify the design, capture load effects during construction, and help DelDOT efficiently manage the bridge during its service life. This thesis describes CIBrE's instrumentation plans for the bridge. First, background information is given relating to the Indian River Inlet and the development of the preliminary bridge design for the inlet: a single-ribbed concrete tied-arch structure. Second, a manual that was developed to aid in the implementation of the structural health monitoring system is described. Third, as a result of an abandoned preliminary design and the potential that future plans for the inlet may result in a cable-stayed bridge, a comprehensive literature review of existing cable-stayed bridge structural health monitoring programs is presented. Finally, through a case study, recommendations are made as to how the existing structural health monitoring program can be adapted should a cable-stayed bridge be selected as the final design. |
