Technologies in the design of the health and behavior monitoring system for the Messina Strait Crossing Bridge

The Messina Bridge will be the longest and most complex suspension bridge ever built. In recent years, the development of GPS systems, Fiber Optic and Wireless Technology above all, have determined an important growth of the monitoring systems, reaching a conceptual value comparable to those of the structural design. Aim of this work is to demonstrate, through an efficient approach strictly based on the expected bridge performances, how the monitoring system is no longer connected to the maintenance Only, but it is also linked with the idea of predictive management of the overall structural behavior. In order to achieve this, an automatic integrated monitoring system is going to be designed. A continuous link between the analytical and the numerical models, like the FEM models, and the real behavior of the bridge will be necessary to continuously calibrate the safety level of the structure with the expected and required performance.