Bridges structural health monitoring (SHM) with aid of building information modeling (BIM) and remote sensing technologies

Damage detection and characterization of structures is a key aspect in the field of civil engineering. Structures already constructed as well as new structures should be periodically monitored in order identify possible appearance of new damage and obtain reliable information about its integrity. These monitoring procedures should be applied periodically in time in order to instruct rapid repair treatments and guarantee safety to its users. Following this needs, the Structural Health monitoring (SHM) arises as a process of damage detection and characterization in structures with technologies such as sensors, non-destructive testing, etc. or with simple techniques such as visual inspections. Given the fact that SHM processes leads to a collection of a vast and variable quantity of data about a structure, the Building Information Modeling (BIM) is starting to gain relevance in this context, as it has already shown its utility to store and manage different type of data during the design stages of a structure. On specific, the field of heritage building information modeling (HBIM) presents a solution to create accurate models of existing structures. This field uses remote sensing technologies such as laser scanning and photogrammetry for surveying the structures in order to detect its main characteristics with an accurate level of detail. The aim of this study is to present how remote sensing techniques can be used in the context of HBIM and subsequently the HBIM model can be used as a tool for SHM. With this purpose, this research tests the applicability of these methodologies in two real study cases. On the first part of this research, beams from the superstructure and from the pier cap of an already dismantled overpass bridge were modeled in BIM software parametrically and with a semi-direct importation from a photogrammetric model. Damage information already recovered from these elements was then transferred into the BIM platform. As a second step of the research, a complete survey of the first span of an existing bridge was done and a 3D model of the structure was created. Then, the process of semi-direct importation from the remote sensing software to the BIM platform was applied. Finally, a user interface was created inside the BIM software so that an operator can characterize and classify the damage directly inside the model, following the approach given by new guidelines from the Italian authorities. The results of this study show that the modeling of existing structures for SHM using BIM software is possible and can produce a useful tool keep control of existing structures. However, this research also demonstrates that as some compatibility problems between remote sensing and BIM software still exists, the great potential of the combination of these tools for SHM purposes implies significant manual work and that future research on this field is a crucial aspect to initiate developing this methodology as a standard for existing structures.