Ironton-Russell Bridge: Application of Vibration-Based Cable Tension Estimation

Abstract

The vibration-based tension estimation method is a common approach for health assessment of cable structures. In this methodology, cable natural frequencies along with mechanical and geometrical properties of the cable were used to estimate the cable tension. In this paper, following the vibration-based tension estimation method, stay cables of new Ironton-Russell Bridge are evaluated and the results compared against the lift-off test results. It is shown that the difference between estimated tension forces and directly measured tension forces (lift-off test) is negligible. A numerical analysis is also performed to investigate the impact of errors in measuring cable natural frequencies and cable axial stiffness on estimated cable tensions.