Monitoring Kingston's Third Crossing Bridge

桥梁是连接运输网络以提供货物和服务的关键基础设施资产，也是第一反应者的重要联系。为了确保桥梁保持在安全的运行状态，它们应该定期进行检查，这是一项传统上通过视觉进行的任务，这引起了对其一致性和可重复性的质疑。这些检查也是昂贵的，并且通常需要移动的升降机来进入桥梁的侧面/下侧和临时交通封闭。因此，人们越来越需要创新桥梁检测方式，以提高质量，降低成本，确保公共安全。 这种研究伙伴关系的目标是利用金斯顿市，哈奇有限公司，与皇后大学合作，推进最先进的创新和具有成本效益的解决方案，以监测桥梁基础设施的状况。该项目将在一个跨学科的研究团队中培训3名HQP（2名MASc和1名PDF），他们将发展相关的技术和专业技能。该研究将：（1）开发一种新型的低成本传感器网络，以监测桥梁轴承和伸缩缝的运动，（2）开发一种自主无人机系统，在桥梁周围导航，并绘制桥梁轴承状况评估所需的关键特征，（3）在金斯顿的第三大桥上实施和测试这些系统。 与传统的人工检查相比，使用传感器和机器人进行桥梁检查具有许多优势：（1）消除了与访问相关的障碍，（2）提高了质量和可靠性，（3）在桥梁的使用寿命内收集一致的编目数据，以及（4）减少交通中断和延迟。创新我们监测关键基础设施资产的能力非常重要，预期的项目成果将为加拿大带来社会、经济和环境效益。

Bridges are critical infrastructure assets that connect transportation networks for the delivery of goods and services and are vital links for first responders. To ensure that bridges remain in safe operating condition they should be inspected regularly, a task that has traditionally been conducted visually, which has raised questions about their consistency and repeatability. These inspections are also expensive, and typically require a mobile lift to access the side/underside of a bridge and the temporary closure to traffic. Consequently, there is a growing demand to innovate the way bridges are inspected to improve the quality, reduce costs, and ensure public safety. The goal of this research partnership is to leverage the relationship between the City of Kingston, Hatch Ltd., and Queen's University to advance the state-of-the-art in innovative and cost-effective solutions to monitor the condition of bridge infrastructure. The project will train 3 HQP (2 MASc and 1 PDF) on an interdisciplinary research team where they will develop relevant technical and professional skills. The research will: (1) develop a novel low-cost sensor network to monitor bridge bearing and expansion joint movement, (2) to develop an autonomous UAV system that navigates around a bridge and maps key features necessary for bridge bearing condition assessment, and (3) to implement and test these systems on Kingston's Third Crossing bridge. The use of sensors and robots for bridge inspection presents a number of advantages when compared to traditional human inspection: (1) barriers associated with access are eliminated, (2) improved quality and reliability, (3) potential for consistent catalogued data collection over the service life of a bridge, and (4) reduced traffic disruptions and delays. Innovating our ability to monitor critical infrastructure assets is of great importance and the expected project outcomes will have social, economic, and environmental benefits for Canada.