WIM (Weigh In Motion), Load capacity and Bridge Performance

The continuous ageing and subsequent structural deterioration of a large number of existing structures make essential the development of efficient SHM systems (Structural Health Monitoring). The state of the health of structures is conditioned by several factors that are manifested in terms of cracks, strain changes or thermal gradients. The knowledge of the relationship correlating such factors is therefore essential in providing an effective and useful damage detection analysis in order to improve maintenance activities and make better use of available resources. Successful Structural Health Monitoring strategies require detection of reliable and accurate measures, captured in strategic points of the structure and with systematic or continuous monitoring. Due to the increasing interest on the safeguard of the infrastructures, the scientific research has been devoted to the development of structural monitoring techniques. Instrumentation of structures and bridges is a very good technique for the evaluation of safety and of structural health in order to plan the maintenance program. On these subjects, under the supervision of ISHMII (International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructures, http://www.ishmii.org), ENEA, Politecnico di Torino, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Manitoba, GLIS (Base Isolation and other Antiseismic Design Strategies) organized the workshop “Civil Structural Health Monitoring 2”, which was held in Taormina (Italy) between September 28th and October 1st 2008. In this volume a selection of the papers presented is reported. Specifically the main goal of the CSHM2 was to promote international cooperation in the fields of load capacity, bridge performance maintenance and safety, taking into account that bridges are the most vulnerable part of civil transportation system that affects directly the public safety. The organization of the conference arises from the need to focus the attention on the measure of intensity and velocity of moving loads and the evaluation of load carrying capacity of bridges, in order to create a cooperating working group and provide guidelines useful for the future researches in the field. As a matter of fact, a terrific increase of the road traffic happened in the last decades. In the same time also the weight of the vehicle got higher. The acquisition of data about number, type and weight of vehicles is possible by means of WIM (Weigh In Motion) systems, but their use is still scarce. Main topics were: Safety of the existing structures Analysis of the overloading on bridges Evaluation of the suitability of instrumentation, methods and models Solutions by means of innovative technologies of structural monitoring and sensors (WIM sensors, permanent monitoring arrays, etc...).