Ensuring Safety and Efficiency for Denver’s Platte River Bridge

Overview

Denver’s Platte River Bridge is a single-span pedestrian bridge with a unique design that poses distinctive challenges relating to structural movement. To ensure the bridge remains safe and operational, the City and County of Denver embarked on a pioneering project with Stantec, a global engineering firm, to monitor the condition of the bridge. This innovative project used iTwin IoT software from Bentley Systems, along with 16 wireless sensors from Move Solutions, to remotely monitor the bridge and provide continuous access to reliable data and analysis on the health of the structure.

Challenge and goals

The Platte River Bridge’s unconventional design, characterized by a timber plank deck and flexible bearings, contributes to unique movement patterns. This necessitates more frequent structural health assessments than manual inspections can provide.  

The project aimed to:

• continuously monitor the bridge movement;
• collect real-time data for improved decision-making;
• prevent costly repairs and potential bridge closures by addressing issues proactively.

Highland Bridge’s BIM on iTwin IoT from Bentley Systems

Solutions implementations

To comprehensively monitor the bridge’s movement, Move Solutions installed:

• 4 Dynamic Displacement Sensors, for precise dynamic monitoring;
• 3 Tiltmeters, measuring the bridge’s tilt angles;
• 8 Accelerometers, capturing dynamic vibrations;
• 1 Gateway, to transmit data from the sensors.

“Installing sensors from Move Solutions has several benefits: they are wireless, which means we don’t have to string cables from the sensors to our data acquisition system; they are relatively small, so that they are easy to be installed; finally, they are low cost, so we can install more sensors for the same price. “- Alan Jones, Senior Director of Infrastructure IoT at Bentley Systems

“We use epoxy on the side of the sensors and then just stick it in there with a clamp, clamp it in for about 15 minutes, pull the clamps off and it should stay for years.”- John Barone, Principal, Infrastructure Technology Lead at Stantec

Project outcomes

The Move Solutions sensors provided a constant stream of data, enabling daily monitoring of the Platte River Bridge’s behavior. By tracking vibrations and dynamic movement, these sensors have helped improve decision-making and address potential maintenance issues proactively. As a result, the City and County of Denver can now plan rehabilitation projects with greater accuracy. The project serves as a foundation for a larger digital twin of the area, offering expanded opportunities for data integration and analysis. This innovative collaboration demonstrates how technology-driven solutions can enhance the reliability and safety of critical infrastructure, setting an example for cities striving to create resilient and safe urban environments.

“With our solutions we can elaborate information and understand structural health in a way that this wasn’t possible before, giving our clients access to remote, reliable and continuous analysis and data of their infrastructure.”- Ferdinando Frediani, CEO at Move Solutions