JF SME Testing commissions structural health monitoring solution on Scotland’s landmark Queensferry Crossing

Overview

James Fisher SME Testing (formerly JF Strainstall) working for the Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors Joint Venture (Hochtief from Germany, American Bridge International from the USA, Dragados from Spain, and Morrison Construction from Scotland) designed, installed and commissioned a complete structural health monitoring (SHM) solution for the Queensferry Crossing.  

 

Challenge

The Scottish bridge is one of Europe’s largest and most prestigious recent infrastructure projects. At 2.7km it is the world’s longest three-tower, cable-stayed bridge and also defines a new global standard in SHM.

 

Solution

The scope of the solution was vast - with over 2,300 sensors being installed to monitor strain, acceleration, displacement and environment.

A key feature has been the seamless integration of otherwise standalone systems, through JF SME Testing's innovative Smart Asset Management System (SAMS™). These are the global navigation satellite system (GNSS), a dynamic weigh-in-motion system (DWIMS) and a reinforced concrete corrosion monitoring system. Despite the thousands of sensors and sources of data, using the SAMS™ platform and the concept of ‘data fusion’, the data is amalgamated and reported in a simple actionable format allowing users to make fast, data-informed decisions on the structural health of their assets.

The SAMS™ system delivers both comprehensive real-time visibility of existing performance, and predictability of through-life needs that will help allow future maintenance to be more proactive, cost-efficient, and better targeted.