PSI - Issue 64

Cevdet Enes Cukaci et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 64 (2024) 531–538 Cukaci and Soyoz/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2024) 000 – 000

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This bridge, built at the 49th kilometer of the Malatya-Elazig highway, at the junction of the highway and the Euphrates River, is the only river crossing point of the Euphrates. The bridge is located on the shortest route between Malatya and Elazig and therefore there is no alternative. Thus, the bridge is a strategically important structure in the region. Therefore, the bridge is continuously monitored and regularly inspected by the General Directorate of Highways in Turkey. The existing monitoring system is shown in Fig. 6 from Permanent Bridge Monitoring of the Komurhan Stay Cable Bridge Specifications. X is the direction of traffic flow, Y is the direction of the river flow, and Z is the direction of gravity (VCE, 2020).

Fig. 6 Definition of existing monitoring system.

5. Cable tension measurements In this study, cable tensions were determined first using data from the monitoring system recorded during four seismic events and three hours before them. T he bridge’s monitoring system is equipped with 8 force sensors on selected cables. These sensors are designed to directly measure the tension in one strand within each cable. Due to cost and space limitations, tension is measured in a single strand and this measurement is assumed as the average tension across all strands within the cable. To calculate the cable tension, this average tension is multiplied by the number of strands in the cable. Examples of the cable tensions from the sensors on these 8 cables are presented in Fig. 7.

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Fig. 7 Selected lift-off testing results for (a) cable-116; (b) cable-121.

Then, cable tensions were indirectly estimated using the acceleration response of 8 selected cables through vibration method during these data sets. The measured acceleration responses and computed power spectral densities are shown as examples in Fig. 8.

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Fig. 8 Selected vibration method results using accelerometers for (a) cable-105; (b) cable-221.