New Hampshire’s old major bridge to have smart sensors to issue early warning alerts

NEW DELHI: In a bid to carry out continuous “health monitoring” of major and extra-long old bridges in New Hampshire, the highway owning agency will now install advanced sensors to quickly raise alerts in case of abnormal behavior so that corrective measures can be taken before any accident occurs.The Ministry of Road Transport has issued a standardized Request for Proposal (RFP) for the procurement of continuous structural monitoring systems for bridges, which can be used by highway owning agencies and their engineers for bidding. This is significant given the urgent need to monitor the behavior of old major bridges on the country’s NH network.While new major bridges are equipped with sensors to monitor bridge health, many older bridges are not, officials said. “We need to ensure continuous monitoring of old bridges. Now, district officials from NHAI, Road Transport Department and NHIDCL can use the document to work with the company,” an official said.Relevant agencies will be responsible for the supply, installation, commissioning and long-term operation and maintenance of advanced instruments designed to track the integrity of the bridge structure in real time. This includes deploying a variety of sensors and hardware for data collection, transmission and reporting, allowing authorities to detect early warning signs of stress, damage or failure.According to the document, such works will be divided into two phases – the first phase will last for six months and will be used to install and commission the bridge health monitoring system, while the second phase will include the operation and maintenance of the system to ensure trouble-free operation for at least 10 years.