Bridge Monitoring Strategies for Sustainable Development with Microwave Radar Interferometry

Lilong Zou, Weike Feng, Olimpia Masci, Giovanni Nico, Amir M. Alani () and Motoyuki Sato
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Lilong Zou: School of Computing and Engineering, University of West London, London W5 5RF, UK
Weike Feng: Early Warning and Detection Department, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an 710051, China
Olimpia Masci: DIAN s.r.l., Via Ferruccio Parri, 44, 75100 Matera, Italy
Giovanni Nico: Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo (IAC), Consiglio Nazionale dele Ricerche (CNR), 70126 Bari, Italy
Amir M. Alani: Faculty of Engineering, Computing and the Environment, Kingston University, London KT1 1LQ, UK
Motoyuki Sato: Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8576, Japan

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: The potential of a coherent microwave radar for infrastructure health monitoring has been investigated over the past decade. Microwave radar measuring based on interferometry processing is a non-invasive technique that can measure the line-of-sight (LOS) displacements of large infrastructure with sub-millimeter precision and provide the corresponding frequency spectrum. It has the capability to estimate infrastructure vibration simultaneously and remotely with high accuracy and repeatability, which serves the long-term serviceability of bridge structures within the context of the long-term sustainability of civil engineering infrastructure management. In this paper, we present three types of microwave radar systems employed to monitor the displacement of bridges in Japan and Italy. A technique that fuses polarimetric analysis and the interferometry technique for bridge monitoring is proposed. Monitoring results achieved with full polarimetric real aperture radar (RAR), step-frequency continuous-wave (SFCW)-based linear synthetic aperture, and multi-input multi-output (MIMO) array sensors are also presented. The results reveal bridge dynamic responses under different loading conditions, including wind, vehicular traffic, and passing trains, and show that microwave sensor interferometry can be utilized to monitor the dynamics of bridge structures with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. This paper demonstrates that microwave sensor interferometry with efficient, cost-effective, and non-destructive properties is a serious contender to employment as a sustainable infrastructure monitoring technology serving the sustainable development agenda.

Keywords: sustainable infrastructure monitoring; bridge monitoring; microwave radar; interferometry; polarimetry; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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