The new I35-W bridge has five traffic lanes going in each direction (the old bridge had only three lanes going each way) and it is designed to accommodate light rail transit in the future. If LRT was incorporated in the bridge, traffic lanes were going to be reduced from 10 to 8 and the two lanes along the center of the bridge would have been converted to LRT tracks. The pier shape has reflective curves with the dominant curve shaping along the length of the bridge, tapering from 30′ to 11′ to 30′ (11′ depth at the center of the main span over the river). Two main piers feature observation platforms curved along the river’s edge. 



 

Aim of monitoring:
 

More than 300 sensors embedded or mounted to the bridge provide information to engineers about the structural behavior of the bridge. In particular Roctest vibrating wire sensors and Smartec SOFO sensors measure how the bridge is reacting to load and the temperature of concrete. Additional Senscore corrosion sensors measure the chloride penetration in concrete. 
 

Related Papers:

1. Structural Health Monitoring System for the new I-35W St Anthony Falls Bridge, Daniele Inaudi, Martijn Bolster, René Deblois, Cathy French, Alan Phipps, Josh Sebasky, Kevin Western , 4th International Conference on Structural Health Monitoring on Intelligent Infrastructure (SHMII-4) 2009, 22-24 July 2009, Zurich, Switzerland – 2009
2. Long-term static Structural Health Monitoring, Daniele Inaudi, ASCE Structures Congress, Orlando Florida – 2010