Farhad Ansari awarded Federal Highway Administration grant
Distinguished Professor Farhad Ansari has been awarded a grant for $312,995 from the Federal Highway Administration for the project entitled “Implementation of Existing BWIM Technology.” Ansari is the sole PI for the grant that is slated to last 18 months.
This project pertains to the implementation of the existing Bridge Weigh-in-Motion (BWIM) technology developed at the University of Illinois Chicago. The BWIM technology is based on monitoring the shear response of the bridge girders near the abutments of the bridge. The system was developed based on the use of fiber optic rosettes sensors. Previous research on the shear based fiber optic sensor based system revealed encouraging results on limited number of bridges. In contrast to the existing flexural-based BWIM systems that are limited to short spans (maximum 45 feet) and narrow bridges, the shear based BWIM system has demonstrated potential for applications to a wider range of bridge spans and types. The primary objective of this project is to instrument two bridges with the shear based fiber optic BWIM system. The plan includes instrumentation of bridges in Oregon and Wisconsin. Learn more.