Long term monitoring of a cable stayed bridge using DuraMote

DuraMote is a remote sensing system developed for the "NIST TIP project: next generation SCADA for prevention and mitigation of water system infrastructure disaster". It is designed for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) of ruptures in water pipes. Micro-electro mechanical (MEMS) accelerometers, which record the vibration of the pipe wall, are used detect the ruptures. However, the performance of Duramote cannot be verified directly on a water distribution system because it lacks an acceptable recordable level of ambient vibration. Instead, a long-span cable-stayed bridge is an ideal test-bed to validate the accuracy, the reliability, and the robustness of DuraMote because the bridge has an acceptable level of ambient vibration. The acceleration data recorded on the bridge were used to identify the modal properties of the structure and to verify the performance of DuraMote. During the test period, the bridge was subjected to heavy rain, wind, and a typhoon but the system demonstrates its robustness and durability.