The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has awarded the joint venture comprising the TYPSA Group subsidiaries Intemac and Teknés with the contract for the instrumentation and continuous assessment of the structural behaviour of four bridges belonging to the State Road Network as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The project is funded by the European Union through the NEXT GENERATION EU funds.
Over the next sixteen months, intensive monitoring will be carried out on the Puente de los Santos bridge over the Eo estuary on the A-8; the Puente del Samprón bridge on the A-6 (León); and the Neira I and Neira II bridges, also on the A-6, in the province of Lugo.
Advanced Monitoring for the Early Detection of Anomalies
To ensure comprehensive monitoring, each of these structures will be fitted with over 50 sensors (accelerometers, strain gauges, thermo-hygrometers, displacement transducers) on each bridge. These high-quality sensors are designed for static and dynamic monitoring of structural behaviour, providing accurate, stable and drift-free data, which is essential for continuous monitoring and the proactive detection of any structural defects.
The monitoring system has the following key features:
- Regular, Real-Time Data Acquisition: Static readings are taken automatically every five minutes and sent to the Directorate General of Roads’ (DGC) CELOSÍA platform in real time.
- Autonomous Operation and Remote Control: The system is capable of automatically restarting following a power cut and allows remote control for maintenance and diagnostic tasks, ensuring constant operational readiness.
- Structural Alert Thresholds: Thresholds have been established for dynamic measurements (such as peak accelerations and wind speed), enabling logging to be triggered in the event of significant occurrences and allowing for a timely response to unusual situations.
- Data Quality: Data cleaning methodologies (interquartile range, IQR, for static readings and centring for dynamic readings) are employed to eliminate outliers and ensure the reliability of the information.
- Visual Monitoring with Cameras: Cameras have been installed on all bridges to monitor traffic in real time and analyse events, complementing the sensor data.
Digital Twins: Towards Predictive Management
One of the most significant innovations of the contract is the creation of a Digital Twin for each bridge. These models are developed to a Level Of Detail (LOD) of 300, accurately representing the structural elements and the location of each sensor. Although they are currently informational models, the vision is that they will evolve to simulate different scenarios and their potential consequences, providing a highly valuable predictive tool. An open visualisation platform created by the joint venture allows sensor data to be viewed directly on the model, enhancing the analysis.
Strategic Impact and Commitment to Sustainability
Monitoring these infrastructures is crucial for extending their service life and detecting any anomalous behaviour that could compromise the safety of transport routes. By enabling the early detection of defects, infrastructure management is significantly improved, and a contribution is made to the planet’s sustainability by optimising resources and preventing major failures.
Continuous empirical structural analysis, supported by the digital twin, is key to identifying trends, correlations and changes in the structure’s behaviour. In the event of any significant anomaly or exceptional situation (such as seismic events, strong gusts of wind, heavy snowfall, extreme temperatures or special traffic conditions), the information is documented and immediately communicated to the DGC so that appropriate measures can be taken.
Intemac and Teknés demonstrate their extensive experience in this type of monitoring, currently monitoring more than 54 structures with over 3,200 sensors in real time. This project not only reinforces our position as leaders in monitoring engineering within the TYPSA Group, but also underlines our firm commitment to innovation and the safety of the infrastructure that supports our society.
