INNOVATION September-October 2014

f ea t ures

Ministry of Transportation and UBC Form BC Smart Infrastructure Monitoring System

The accelerometer installed on stay cable of the Port Mann Bridge

The junction box through which accelerometers connected to the data logger.

Dr. Carlos E. Ventura, P.Eng. Sharlie Huffman, P.Eng.

T he British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) has been at the leading edge of seismic warning initiatives, partnering with UBC’s Civil Engineering department to produce sensory tools in order to detect seismic activity. Most recently, MoTI and UBC embarked on a program called the BC Smart Infrastructure Monitoring System (BCSIMS). The system integrates data from the instrumented structures and a network of ground instruments, orga- nizes and processes the information in an efficient manner, and delivers necessary information to appropriate parties. MoTI has been instrumenting structures in collaboration with the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility (EERF) at UBC since the late 90s. The primary purpose of the original systems was to capture the ground motion input and minimal structural re- sponse. The data would be retrieved from each site within one or two days after the event. More recently, the instrumentation program has been expanded to provide immediate notification after an event and incorporate remote Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). Two recent design-build bridges have included instrumentation; one existing bridge has also been instrumented, and up to eight more bridges are being added this year Four structures were originally instrumented in the 1990s prior to the inception of the comprehensive BCSIMS program. These include the French Creek Bridge and

View of stay cables from one tower on the Port Mann Bridge

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S E P T E M B E R /OC TO B E R 2 014

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