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，也是急救人员的重要环节。为了确保桥梁保持安全的运行状态，他们应该定期进行检查，这项任务传统上是通过视觉进行的，这引发了对其一致性和可重复性的质疑。这些检查也很昂贵，通常需要一个移动升降机进入桥梁的侧面/底部，并暂时关闭交通。因此，人们越来越需要创新桥梁的检查方式，以提高质量，降低成本，并确保公共安全。这项研究合作的目标是利用金斯敦市、哈奇有限公司和女王大学之间的关系，推进最先进的创新和经济有效的解决方案，以监测桥梁基础设施的状况。该项目将培训3名HQP（2名MASc和1名PDF）组成一个跨学科研究团队，在那里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节的运动；(2)开发一种自主无人机系统，在桥梁周围导航，绘制桥梁轴承状况评估所需的关键特征；(3)在金斯敦第三十字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)消除了与通道相关的障碍；(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数据目录的潜力；(4)减少了交通中断和延误。创新我们监控关键基础设施资产的能力非常重要，预期的项目成果将对加拿大产生社会、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.