Could Tiny Sensors Detect Bridge Crises?
Associated Press (08/03/07) Mygatt, Matt Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists, working with the University of California at San Diego, are developing a network of sensors that could detect the early warning signs of structural failure in bridges. The small sensors, about the size of a credit card, would be put on bridges to give enough warning to shut down the bridge or have preventative maintenance work done to avoid a serious failure. “The idea is to put arrays of sensors on structures, such as bridges, and look for the changes of patterns of signals coming out of those sensors that would give an indication of damage forming and if it is propagating,” says laboratory civil engineer Chuck Farrar. The sensors might be powered by microwaves or the sun, and would use radiotelemetry to send data to a computer for analysis. The sensors would be monitoring for electrical charges caused by stress on material such as steel-reinforced concrete. It will probably be several years more befor
