This study investigates the concept that, when localised bridge superstructure damage is present, the weights of passing vehicles inferred from a rotation-based Bridge Weigh-in-Motion (B-WIM) system will deviate from those predicted by a strain-based B-WIM system. Rotation measurements were gathered from a 5.4 m simply-supported laboratory model bridge crossed repeatedly by a 4-axle model vehicle. Damage was incorporated by bolting stiffening plates onto localised sections of the test bridge. This 'negative damage' concept, consisting of local increases in stiffness, allows several damage scenarios to be investigated on the test bridge. The experimental results show that when negative damage is present, rotation-calculated Gross Vehicle Weights decrease while strain-calculated Gross Vehicle Weights remain unchanged. It is also shown that the approximate location of damage can be identified.

A recent survey of Europe's highway infrastructure has concluded that almost half of Europe's bridges are nearing the end of their design live. Work in the wider Structural Health Monitoring sector is aiming to develop reliable and cost-effective methods for verifying condition, remaining service life and safety of ageing structures. Most bridge condition assessment methods are based on deflection, acceleration or strain measurements. This paper looks at the possibility of using rotation measurements as a main parameter to identify damage. This study looks at numerical analyses of a moving point load on a one-dimensional bridge model to provide the theoretical basis of the proposed damage detection method. It is shown that when local damage occurs, even when it is remote from a sensor location, it results in an increase in the magnitude of rotation measurements. This study looks at how best to exploit this fact for damage detection. A number of damage scenarios, sensor locations, and load arrangements are investigated in this study and their influence on the ability of the algorithm to detect damage are reported.

A recent survey of Europe's highway infrastructure has concluded that almost half of Europe's bridges are nearing the end of their design live. Work in the wider Structural Health Monitoring sector is aiming to develop reliable and cost-effective methods for verifying condition, remaining service life and safety of ageing structures. Most bridge condition assessment methods are based on deflection, acceleration or strain measurements. This paper looks at the possibility of using rotation measurements as a main parameter to identify damage. This study looks at numerical analyses of a moving point load on a one-dimensional bridge model to provide the theoretical basis of the proposed damage detection method. It is shown that when local damage occurs, even when it is remote from a sensor location, it results in an increase in the magnitude of rotation measurements. This study looks at how best to exploit this fact for damage detection. In the study a number of damage scenarios, sensor locations, and load arrangements are investigated, and their influence on the ability of the algorithm to detect damage are reported.