Abstract

Structural Health Monitoring systems are growing in popularity in the world of bridge engineering due to their ability to provide real-time, quantifiable data about bridges. Despite this, visual inspection is still the most common form of condition monitoring used by bridge owners worldwide. It is well known that uncertainties can arise from the inherently subjective nature of visual observations, and it is important for leading asset owners, such as Highways England, to understand the potential impacts which these uncertainties can have on management decisions.

Graham Webb is a Bridge Engineer with WSP where he has been involved with the design and assessment of a number of high profile structures across London as well as projects covering asset management and standards development. Prior to joining WSP Graham completed a PhD thesis entitled “Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges” at the University of Cambridge Engineering Department. His research focused on ways in which data from monitoring systems can be interpreted to provide useful information to owners and managers of bridges.