Field Monitoring of Ice Forces, Temperature Effects and Deformations on the Confederation Bridge

Abstract

The Confederation Bridge was built to provide a highway traffic link across the Northumberland Strait between Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick, and Borden, Prince Edward Island. It is currently the world’s longest prestressed concrete box girder bridge built over salt water, consisting of 45 main spans of 250 meters each and a 100 year design life. Due to the design criteria of the bridge it is not currently covered by any engineering code or standard in the world. It is for this reason that a comprehensive monitoring program is necessary to study the behaviour of the bridge under initially assumed loadings. Several monitoring programs aim to determine the performance of the bridge under temperature effects, short and long term deformations, and ice forces as well as to gain information that engineers currently lack in these areas of design. This report will outline the necessary measurement equipment, and they’re placement required to acquire this data. The monitored data received from the research results will also be very valuable to engineers with respect to the design and construction of other complex long-span bridges and structures in the future. The information provided from this research will be used in the improvement of computer modeling and simulation, as well as contributing to the development of new design standards and guidelines for long-span bridges.