PolyStructure. Using an innovative combination of next generation data science and sensors to better inform inspection regimes of transport infrastructure, focusing on bridges

我们的交通网络中的桥梁从来没有为现在经常通过它们的44吨重的巨型卡车设计过。因此，在英国的一些县，超过30%的桥梁被认为是不安全的。RAC基金会报告称，桥梁检查的积压量很大，他们的研究显示，清理英国70，944座桥梁的全部维护积压的一次性成本将达到54.4亿英镑。英格兰、苏格兰和威尔士的地方当局确定，到2021年底，有3，211座桥梁（公路工程师将其定义为跨度超过1.5米的结构）不符合标准。PolyStructure项目将为基础设施的检查、维护和安全管理提供创新的决策工具，最初重点是桥梁。通过将先进的统计技术与断层演化的物理建模相结合，PolyStructure将利用桥梁安装传感器的数据，提供有关英国和新加坡桥梁预测剩余寿命的定量信息。这些信息将用于根据置信水平而不是主观判断提供工程咨询意见，这是资产管理领域标准行业做法的一个重大变化。它将为基础设施运营商提供维护策略排名和资源分配优化的定量依据。例如，可以优先考虑风险最高的地方，或者优先考虑能够最大程度降低风险的维护政策，或者优先考虑能够最大程度降低保险成本的退役战略（同时始终遵守法规要求）。PolyChord Ltd将数十年的贝叶斯统计经验沿着下一代抽样方法带入该项目，并将基于Accupredict在低成本传感器和预测性维护物理建模方面的丰富经验，以提供这一强大的工具。一旦原型项目完成，PolyStructure传感器和分析工具就可以商业化。该分析工具还可以扩展到利用安装在其他重要结构上的其他现有传感器的数据，以便更好地判断它们的安全性以及何时应该进行检查。

The bridges in our transport network were never designed for the giant 44 tonne lorries that now cross them regularly.As a result, in some UK counties more than 30 percent of bridges are considered not safe to use. The backlog of bridge inspections is reported by the RAC Foundation to be substantial and their study reveals that the one-time cost to clear the full maintenance backlog on the 70,944 bridges in the UK would be £5.44 billion. Local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales identified 3,211 bridges -- defined by highway engineers as structures over 1.5m in span -- as being substandard at the end of 2021\.The PolyStructure project will deliver an innovative decision-making tool for the inspection, maintenance and safety management of infrastructure, focusing initially on bridges. Importantly, this tool will be simple, scalable, low-cost and generalisable.By combining advanced statistical techniques with physical modelling of fault evolution, PolyStructure will deliver quantitative information about the predicted remaining lifetime of bridges in the UK & Singapore using data from bridge-mounted sensors. This information will be used to provide engineering advice based on confidence levels rather than subjective judgement, representing a step-change from standard industry practice in the field of asset management. It will supply the Operator of the infrastructure with quantitative grounds for the ranking of maintenance strategies and the optimisation of resource allocation. For example, priority can be given where risk is highest, or to maintenance policies resulting in the most substantial risk reduction, or to the decommissioning strategies resulting in the largest reduction in insurance costs (while complying at all times with regulatory requirements).PolyChord Ltd brings decades of experience in Bayesian statistics along with next-generation sampling methods to the project, and will build on Accupredict's extensive experience in low-cost sensors and physical modelling for predictive maintenance in order to deliver this powerful tool. Once this prototyping project has been completed, the PolyStructure sensor and analysis tool can be commercialised. The analysis tool can also be extended to exploit data from other existing sensors mounted on other vital structures to make better judgements about their safety and when they should be inspected.