Bridge deck joints evaluation using lidar and aerial photography

Deck joint is important for a bridge - Any cost-effective evaluation methods that can help trace joint movements during frequent inspections will provide valuable data to bridge engineers. In this paper, 3D Terrestrial LiDAR and Aerial photography are being investigated as possible joint evaluation methods. The laser scanners record 3D positions of the surface points, generating high density point clouds. Aerial images taken by commercial DSLR cameras in a small airplane flying at 1000 feet, generates high resolution imagery. Both techniques have sub-inch pixel resolutions. Scanning results from bridges in both Florida and Alabama have shown that LiDAR and aerial imaging technologies are compatible techniques and can be applied in bridge deck joint performance evaluation. Moreover, both techniques have the potential to reduce the costs in bridge inspection.