Structural health monitoring of bridges based on GNSS

This paper presents an overview of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of bridges. Peculiarities and requirements related to GNSS technology, installation features, data management, signal processing and significance of the results to ultimately support life-cycle frameworks for optimal management of critical bridge assets are discussed. A case study of GNSS-based SHM of an existing bridge is also presented. The investigated bridge is part of a group of pilot bridges equipped with different SHM systems within a project for risk-based bridge management and monitoring at regional scale. Results of the GNSS-based SHM of the bridge, with emphasis on data processing and correlation analysis, are presented for a monitoring time interval of about two years.