Bridge Cable Sensors Evaluated on Mock-up Cable in Tension

• Published in: Civil engineering (New York, N.Y. 1983) Vol. 79; no. 2; pp. 32 - 33
• Main Author: Shuster, Laurie A
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York American Society of Civil Engineers 01.02.2009
• Subjects: Bridges; Cables; Civil engineering; Corrosion; Sensors; Testing; United States > US
• DOI: 10.1061/ciegag.0000600
• ISSN: 2381-0688; 0885-7024

Engineers at Columbia University have constructed what may be the world's only physical model of a high-strength steel suspension cable under tension, and they are using it to test the validity of a variety of corrosion sensors. The goal is to determine which sensors most accurately measure conditions inside the cable so that bridge owners and operators can learn when cable corrosion might be taking hold. Raimondo Betti, PhD, a professor in the civil engineering and the person leading the research, says the data they generate will be matched against the actual corrosion of the wires and cables to determine which sensor works best. At the end of six months they will open the cable and verify which sensor has provided the best information, Betti says.