| The 58 year-old, 2.25-mile long Tobin Bridge is a major artery connecting Boston to the North Shore for 80,000 motorists who use the bridge each day. On June 19, The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) announced that a new structural monitoring system will be installed on the bridge over the next 18 months. Massport selected a team lead by Fay, Spofford & Thorndike and including Tufts University, Geocomp Corporation and Keville Enterprises.
Massport’s board approved a permanent high-tech monitoring system, which will make the Tobin the state’s first “smart bridge."
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The technology will allow Massport engineers to better understand the causes of stresses on the bridge, and will allow the Authority to identify and address any concerns immediately. Massport is acting proactively because the technology is available and will buttress the agency’s efforts to maintain the bridge in good overall condition.
The contract calls for the team to conduct a finite element analysis of forces and strains on the bridge using a three-dimensional computer engineering model of the entire bridge. The model will be calibrated against actual conditions using measurements from wireless sensors attached to representative areas of the
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Boston's Tobin Bridge
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