Load testing of bridges using tiltmeters

In this study, a test technique that was applied to the Drweca River Bridge in Poland and corresponding test data evaluation procedure are proposed. This testing technique consists of loading a bridge and collecting tilt data measured by the tiltmeter and obtaining deflection results using numerical procedures to process the collected tilt data. The numerical procedure methods consist of cubic spline and finite difference techniques. The computer analysis of a four span continuous composite highway bridge is accomplished by 3D finite element model using COSMOS/M software program. Finally, the deflection results are compared that are obtained by proposed method (tiltmeter method), direct measurement method (LVDT method) and 3D finite element model. The results indicate that this method can be applied to obtain vertical displacements of bridges as an alternative to the use of conventional displacement transducers with an adequate sensitivity.