Dynamic monitoring of civil infrastructures with geodetic sensors

Abstract

[EN] Geodetic sensors are conventionally used for the long-term monitoring of civil structures like bridges, buildings or water dams. With the recorded data the reaction of the structure to slow changing impacts like temperature changes can be observed. However, the reaction due to dynamic impacts like wind loads, traffic loads or earthquakes are usually assessed using non-geodetic sensors like accelerometers. This article discusses how advances in geodetic sensing technology opens up new possibilities. In laboratory tests and on a real footbridge, it is demonstrated that modern total stations and GNSS receivers are well suited for the dynamic monitoring of bridges. It is shown that even small amplitudes in the range of about 1 mm for GNSS and of about 0.2 mm for total stations depending on the distance to the object can be detected.