Monitoring of ASR/ISR structural effects in Aguieira bridges

Abstract

The São João das Areias and Criz II bridges were affected by internal swelling reactions of concrete, which particularly affected their piers and foundations. Laboratory tests diagnosed both Alkali-Aggregate Reaction and Internal Sulphate Reaction as the causes of those expansions. This situation motivated important rehabilitation works on these bridges. In the course of these works, a structural health monitoring system was installed in each of these bridges in order to characterize the structural effects of the swelling reactions, both in the loss of rigidity and the temporal evolution of this degradation. The aim of this paper is to describe the instrumentation performed in these bridges and present the preliminary results achieved.