A Bridge Health Monitoring Tool That Integrated Real-Time Sensor Data for Bridge Condition Assessments Was Hosted on an Existing Cloud Service for Less Than $20 Per Month.

The BRACE² health monitoring platform was developed to support timely and informed decision-making about bridge safety. Its goal was to bridge the gap between decision-makers, engineers, and researchers by providing accurate structural health assessments, particularly after events like earthquakes or accidents. The platform was piloted in California, originally targeting five bridges but later expanded to monitor 22 bridges. The platform integrated with existing infrastructure databases, such as the National Bridge Inventory, and had partnerships with agencies such as the California Geological Survey (CGS), which provided real-time seismic data. BRACE² included four core elements: assets (i.e., bridge inventory), predictors (e.g., structural analysis models using finite element methods), events (e.g., incidents on happening on a bridge in the inventory), and metrics (quantitative indicators of structural health, such as stiffness or ductility, tailored for decision-making). The platform involved functionalities that allowed real-time data ingestion and communication and processed and streamed sensor data to the platform within about one minute.

The BRACE² system automatically generated evaluation reports after seismic events by integrating structural models and sensor data to produce metrics relevant for decision-makers. The system integrated real-time sensor data into the platform and required cloud services to support current demand. Under current resource demand for monitoring 22 bridges, the cost to host the tool on an existing cloud service was estimated to be less than $20 per month.