Development and evaluation of an automation algorithm for a time-domain reflectometry bridge scour monitoring system

Bridge scour is a major threat to the safety of bridges. There is a high risk of scour-induced damage due to the catastrophic nature of bridge foundation failure. The development of an innovative bridge scour monitoring system is a pressing task for the research community. Such a system needs to be fieldworthy, which is a characteristic assessed in terms of accuracy, ruggedness, and automation. Among these criteria, an automatic signal analysis algorithm is generally a prerequisite for deploying a long-term field monitoring program. This paper describes the development and validation of an algorithm for a scour monitoring system based on the principles of guided radar: time-domain reflectometry (TDR). This algorithm is based on the extension of the classic dielectric mixing model to layered systems. The performance of this algorithm is evaluated using experiments designed to simulate different field scour conditions. These include different types of sediments and the variation of river conditions (i.e., salinity of river water, air entrainment, and amount of suspended sediments). The experiment results indicate that the developed analyses algorithm is robust and accurate for scour-depth estimation under these investigated conditions.