Newsletter May 2003
Monitoring of West Mill Bridge
The West Mill bridge in Oxfordshire was opened last October and is the first public highway bridge in Europe to be built from advanced composite materials and its structural performance is being continuously monitored. The bridge is constructed from a new type of composite material including glass and carbon reinforcement. It was developed under the ASSET project, part funded by the European Commission and 7 European partners led by Mouchel.
The system being used is a fibre optic sensor system using Bragg grating sensors. The structural integrity monitoring project is being managed by City University's Measurement and Instrumentation Centre. Collaborators include Cranfield University (RCMS), Sira, NPL, Mouchel, EM Technology, Lumen Photonics, BNFL, Corus, Qinetiq and the Highways Agency.
Data from the sensors will be collected remotely for analysis using new techniques developed under the 'Intersect' project. This is one of the schemes under the Faraday partnership; it is managed by NPL and SIRA, with support from DTI.
Further information on the West Mill bridge: www.mouchel.com
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