Andrew Wade

C2I 2019: Eyes in the sky help boost bridge safety

In-Depth

The winner in the Information, Data & Connectivity category combines satellite technology and a bespoke sensor package to enhance structural safety for bridges and buildings.

Category: Information, Data & Connectivity

Winner: GeoSHM (GNSS and Earth Observation for Structural Health Monitoring)

Partners: University of Nottingham with the European Space Agency, UbiPOS, BRDI, Leica Geosystems, GVL & Transport Scotland

Category Sponsor: Babcock

When bridges fail it can result in huge loss of life, as the 2018 Ponte Morandi collapse so tragically demonstrated. That day in Genoa saw 43 people killed and 16 injured. While death tolls on this scale are mercifully rare, our C2I winner in the Information, Data & Connectivity category could help consign major bridge disasters to the pages of history.

GeoSHM (GNSS and Earth Observation for Structural Health Monitoring) uses multiple space technologies combined with in-situ sensors to provide a real-time picture of bridge movement and stresses. At the core of the system are GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers that pick up positional data via the GPS, Galileo and BeiDou Navigation Satellite (BDS) constellations. This real-time monitoring is complemented by interferometric synthetic-aperture radar (InSAR) data provided by Earth Observation (EO) satellites that can track potential ground subsidence of the structure.

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