Monitoring the Deflections of the Forth Road Bridge by GPS

The research project looked at the use of carrier phased based GPS positioning to measure the deflections of the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland. Six GPS receivers were placed upon the bridge, located on the deck level handrails as well as on the tops of the southern support towers. Data were gathered at a rate of 10Hz.

Data were gathered during normal traffic flow over a 3-day period, and during one of the nights, two fully laden, and weighed, trucks passed over the bridge, back and forth carrying our various manoeuvres.

The data were processed and analysed, looking at the magnitude of the movements, as well as the frequencies derived from the data.

The project was funded by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority with a grant for 10,633 UK pounds.