Monitoring Vertical Loads on the Bearings of the High Coast Suspension Bridge

Abstract

Inspections of Sweden’s longest suspension bridge, the approximately ten years old High Coast Suspension Bridge, have shown that the main bridge bearings have been seriously affected by wear. A monitoring program was therefore initiated in 2005 to measure actual vertical loads acting on the bearings as well as the tension in the first hangers of the bridge. This article describes the instrumentation and the calibration process. Interesting results from several months of monitoring are presented. Results show t…