Challenges in identification of the humber bridge modal parameters based on an ambient vibration test

Abstract

In July 2008, an ambient vibration test was performed at the Humber Bridge, in the UK, which is a suspension bridge with a main span of 1410m that is in the fifth position of the ranking of the world longest bridge spans. This paper is focused on the application either of simple and fast identification tools used to check on site the quality of the acquired data or of more sophisticated routines employed in the subsequent processing of the achieved database, using computational tools previously developed at FEUP, with the goal of accomplishing more complete and accurate results. The size of the database enforces the use of identification techniques that are based on the processing of several datasets together or on the use of algorithms for the automatic interpretation of stabilization diagrams. Both approaches are successfully applied together with the Covariance driven Stochastic Subspace Identification method.