The development of a digitally enhanced visual inspection framework for masonry bridges in the UK

Talebi, Saeed and Wu, Song and Al-Adhami, Mustafa and Shelbourn, Mark and Serugga, Joas (2022) The development of a digitally enhanced visual inspection framework for masonry bridges in the UK. Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management. ISSN 1471-4175

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Abstract

The utilisation of emerging technologies for the inspection of bridges has remarkably increased. In particular, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technologies are deemed a potential alternative for costly, labour intensive, subjective and unsafe conventional bridge inspection regimes. This research aims to develop a framework to overcome conventional inspection regimes' limitations by deploying multiple NDT technologies to carry out digital visual inspections of masonry railway bridges.
This research adopts an exploratory case study approach, and the empirical data is collected through exploratory workshops, interviews and document reviews. The framework is implemented and refined in five masonry bridges as part of the UK railway infrastructure. Four NDT technologies, namely, Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), Infrared Thermography (IRT), 360-degree imaging, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are used in this study.
A digitally enhanced visual inspection framework is developed by utilising complementary optical methods. Compared to the conventional inspection regimes, the new approach requires fewer subjective interpretations due to the additional qualitative and quantitative analysis. Also, it is safer and needs fewer operators on site as the actual inspection can be carried out remotely.
This research is a step towards digitalising the inspection of bridges, and it is of particular interest to transport agencies and bridge inspectors and can potentially result in revolutionising the bridge inspection regimes and guidelines.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.1108/CI-10-2021-0201
Dates:	Date Event 10 February 2022 Accepted 17 March 2022 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	visual inspection, masonry railway bridges, digitalisation, optical methods, Non-Destructive Testing, Infrared thermography
Subjects:	CAH10 - engineering and technology > CAH10-01 - engineering > CAH10-01-01 - engineering (non-specific) CAH10 - engineering and technology > CAH10-01 - engineering > CAH10-01-07 - civil engineering
Divisions:	Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment > College of Built Environment
Depositing User:	Saeed Talebi
Date Deposited:	10 Feb 2022 10:17
Last Modified:	20 Jun 2024 11:45
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/12803

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