Feather River Bridge - A Case Study
Authors: R. Danielle Whitlow (USACE) , Anna M. Jordan , Sarah McComas , Mihan H. McKenna , Henry Diaz-Alvarez
Scour at bridge piers and abutments is a commonly encountered issue for both military and civil works. For bridges deemed to be scour critical, additional monitoring may be specified including additional inspections beyond law requirements, portable monitoring systems, and/or fixed monitoring systems with visual inspections as the most common. Current monitoring systems are not true remote systems in the sense that they must be installed on or near the bridge, such as around bridge piers or abutments in the channel bed or on the piers and abutments themselves, and are susceptible to damage. Ongoing studies by the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are investigating infrasound, low frequency acoustics, as a means of scour detection and assessment at bridge piers. These passive infrasound arrays can monitor structures at distances up to 25 km and greater depending on signal strength. Presented are a field study and initial results from a scour critical bridge in northern California.
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How to Cite: Whitlow, R. D. , Jordan, A. M. , McComas, S. , McKenna, M. H. & Diaz-Alvarez, H. (2014) “Scour Detection Using Infrasound: A case study of the Feather River Bridge of State Highway 20 (the 10th Street Bridge) in Yuba City, CA”, National Hydraulic Engineering Conference 2014. 1(2014).