BACKGROUND
Digital twin technology enables real-time virtual structural health monitoring. While its return on investment is understood for new bridges, evaluating costs and benefits for existing structures is challenging. Maintenance records may not accurately reflect current baseline health, and digitizing as-built drawings can be costly. Establishing baseline criteria by bridge category (such as average daily traffic, structure type, and climate) can help state department of transportations determine the benefit-cost of applying digital twins to existing bridges.
RESEARCH
This project will synthesize current knowledge on digital twin technology for existing bridges and identify gaps, opportunities and possible next steps in this area.