What is Instrumentation and Monitoring?
Bridge Diagnostics, Inc. (BDI) has long been a pioneer and innovator in the structural instrumentation and monitoring sector. Since our inception, we have developed easy-to-use systems, automated data analysis tools, reliable engineering consulting services, and user-friendly interfaces. With experience load testing and instrumenting over 1,000 structures, BDI delivers advanced Instrumentation and Monitoring Services that integrate targeted testing methods and specialized equipment to provide comprehensive insights into the behavior and performance of civil infrastructure.
BDI’s Diagnostic Load Testing services are designed to quantify key structural behaviors (e.g., load distribution, member interaction, damage assessment) and validate operational performance and design assumptions through controlled loading protocols. Our Structural Monitoring Solutions support continuous monitoring of in-service assets to detect overloads, degradation, fatigue, and environmental impacts.
By combining testing and monitoring approaches, BDI offers clients a full-spectrum diagnostic capability from short-term performance validation to continuous lifecycle monitoring. Our instrumentation and data delivery platforms are tailored to meet project-specific requirements, ensuring accurate data collection, regulatory compliance, and actionable, easy-to-interpret results for asset owners, engineers, and contractors.
Our Systems
Short Term Systems
Hardware: BDI manufactures and provides specialized short term testing systems (including sensors and data acquisition [link to sensor page]) for rapid implementation. Our modular and easy-to-use sensors allow our engineers and clients to develop and implement a variety of testing procedures quickly and effectively.
Long-Term Systems
Hardware: BDI manufactures and provides a large selection of in-house sensor types to record common structural parameters [link to sensor page], as well as data acquisition hardware [link] to read and write the sensor responses. We can also incorporate third-party hardware into our systems, creating unlimited possibilities for what and how we measure.
Data Processing: BDI offers comprehensive data processing and automation solutions to transform raw sensors measurements into common engineering parameters, simplifying data interpretation and management.
Communication: BDI systems offer the capability to transmit the collected data automatically over wireless networks, allowing remote access to the measurements from anywhere in real-time. We also offer customized website access and alarm systems to meet the project’s needs and goals.
BDI’s Key Instrumentation & Monitoring Services
Load Testing
BDI provides load testing services across the heavy civil industry to assess structural performance under controlled loading conditions. By applying known loads and measuring the resulting structural responses, BDI helps clients gain valuable insight into how a structure behaves in current operational scenarios. This data is used to identify and quantify key structural parameters such as stiffness, load distribution, and support conditions. The results often serve as the foundation for refined structural evaluations, helping engineers make informed decisions about safety, maintenance, and rehabilitation. BDI’s testing expertise ensures accurate, reliable testing tailored to the unique demands of heavy civil infrastructure.
As-Built Verification
BDI’s as-built verification services provide engineers and infrastructure owners with accurate structural documentation when original plans are missing, incomplete, or potentially inaccurate. Using minimally invasive techniques such as nondestructive testing, sensor-based measurements, and targeted field investigations, BDI identifies key structural parameters including member dimensions/thicknesses, material properties, and reinforcement layouts and types. This data helps confirm or correct assumptions about how a structure was built, enabling more reliable analysis and evaluation. BDI’s approach minimizes disruption to the structure and the traveling public while delivering the clarity needed for confident decision-making.
Scour and Settlement Monitoring
BDI’s scour and settlement monitoring services provide critical data for evaluating the stability and safety of infrastructure such as bridges, embankments, and foundations. Scour monitoring focuses on detecting and quantifying soil erosion around structural elements, particularly in hydraulic environments where fast-moving water can undermine foundations. By combining sensor-based instrumentation, remote data acquisition systems, and BDI’s unknown foundation investigations, we provide real-time measurements that support early detection of structural vulnerabilities. These insights help engineers assess risk, prioritize maintenance, and ensure long-term structural performance.
Structural Health Monitoring
BDI’s SHM solutions are designed to provide continuous, high-fidelity monitoring of structural performance across heavy civil infrastructure. Our systems integrate distributed sensors with advanced data acquisition hardware to capture real-time responses to environmental and operational loads and provide data in an easy-to-interpret and usable interface. Responses of interest commonly include stresses and movements under traffic, thermal gradients, evaluation of repairs, and weather events. The resulting data enables engineers to track structural behavior over time, detect changes in performance, and validate analytical models. SHM supports informed decision-making for asset management, load rating, maintenance scheduling, and retrofit planning. Each of BDI’s deployment is customized to meet the specific requirements of the structure, ensuring reliable and actionable insights for long-term infrastructure stewardship.
Performance Evaluation
BDI’s performance evaluation services use targeted testing methods to assess the behavior of structural components and systems under controlled loading conditions. These evaluations are designed to isolate and quantify responses from specific areas of concern, using structural instrumentation to capture real-time data. Each testing approach is tailored to address the client’s unique performance questions. By combining BDI’s testing expertise with its advanced NDE practice, we deliver in-depth and reliable structural assessments that support decisions related to asset management, maintenance planning, and long-term serviceability. BDI’s expertise ensures accurate data collection and interpretation for informed engineering evaluations.
Construction Monitoring
BDI’s construction monitoring services are designed to assess and manage risks associated with high-impact construction activities such as blasting, pile driving, demolition, and excavation. These operations can affect nearby structures, infrastructure, and public safety, making real-time monitoring essential. Depending on the project scope and site conditions, BDI deploys instrumentation to measure structural and environmental responses, including automated surveying to track positional changes of key structural elements, vibration monitoring to quantify ground and structural vibrations and verify compliance with damage threshold criteria, and crack monitoring to detect initiation or propagation of cracks in adjacent structures. These measurements provide objective data to support risk mitigation, compliance documentation, and informed decision-making during construction.
Contact Us With Any Questions
Bridge Diagnostics, Inc. ensures non-discrimination in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you need more information or special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, contact our office at +1.303.494.3230 Ext. 116