Field Test of Strain Fluctuation in the Experimental Reactive Powder Concrete Bridge at Shepherd's Creek

Abstract

The newly built bridge made of novel reactive powder concrete at Shepherd's Creek, Lake Macquarie, NSW is tested for static strain activity over a two-day period. We developed a fibre grating-based experimental strain sensing system and employed an active interrogation scheme using a tuneable laser source. Four FBG sensor heads are surface-mounted in the middle of a girder and under the bridge deck to monitor the strain and temperature movement. The strain sensors have a resolution of approximately 1.5. The observed strain fluctuations, which indicate the hogging and sagging behaviour of the bridge, are in agreement with the theoretical expectation.