Watch our video and discover the work carried out by our teams to detect any potential wire breaks on the Pont de Normandie...
A detailed version of the video is available. Watch it HERE.
Determine in real time where and when a wire break occurs on the work...
The Pont de Normandie monitoring project began at the end of 2019. The Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Territoriale Seine Estuaire (CCI TSE) has appointed the MISTRAS group to carry out the project. for the installation of a permanent, real-time monitoring solution on the structure.
After more than 25 years old The Pont de Normandie, equipped with 184 shrouds and world-famous for its unique architecture, has already undergone the renovation of several of its shrouds in the past. However, the solutions put in place did not make it possible to effectively identify the shrouds in need of repair. in real time.
That's why the Seine Estuaire Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI TSE) turned to the MISTRAS group, one of the world leaders in non-destructive testing (NDT) and a forerunner in this technology. Acoustic Emission (EA)is the most likely to provide a concrete response to this problem.
By identifying and locating damage within materials, this technology can be used to measure where and when a thread break occurs in the entire structure. Thanks to Acoustic Emission monitoring, customers are alerted to in real timeIf an anomaly is discovered, the system can take the necessary operational decisions.
Installation of several robust data acquisition units, several hundred Acoustic Emission sensors distributed in a strategic grid and connected by dozens of kilometers of cable...
In concrete terms, the project was divided into two main phases:
The first consisted of a feasibility study carried out by the MISTRAS Research & Development team on a representative section of the bridge (several voussoirs and several stays), with the aim of ensuring the technique's ability to detect any wire breaks, optimize the choice of equipment and its distribution on the structure, and study the means of access to generalize the instrumentation to the entire bridge.
With an average of 20,000 motorists using it every day, the Pont de Normandie is a noisy environment, as the bridge is very busy. This study therefore played a vital role in the project, since it was necessary to ensure that the technology rejected the environmental noise caused by heavy traffic on the bridge and weather conditions that were not always favorable.
In the second stage, MISTRAS teams installed the Acoustic Emission (AE) listening device on all the shrouds and prestressing cables, both inside and outside the bridge. To achieve this, the Group had to call on its teams of IRATA-certified rope access technicians.
In all, MISTRAS teams installed multiple EA units representing almost 700 lanes and nearly 700 EA sensors inside and outside the structure, strategically meshed and connected by dozens of kilometers of cable. All MISTRAS equipment installed meets the standards required by the CCI TSE.
MISTRAS telecommunications equipment was then used to collect a large amount of data from the French headquarters in Sucy-en-Brie (94), as soon as the first installations were in place. On-site engineers, supported by COFREND level III-certified personnel, processed the data and approved the results.
MISTRAS: A major player in the monitoring of engineering structures
This project shows that the MISTRAS Group, thanks to its experience in civil engineering since the 1980s, particularly in Englandhas much to contribute to this sector. In fact, the Group was able to deploy considerable resources on this project, whether in financial, material or human terms, mobilizing teams with extremely diversified skills (technical and R&D division, qualified technicians on site and in the workshop, IRATA-certified rope access technicians, etc.).
In particular, it benefits from a solid asset: design and manufacture its own EA systemsThis enables us to adapt our systems to different situations and problems. This is how the group was able to deploy a complete monitoring system on a structure as complex as the Pont de Normandie.
MISTRAS is also a international group, which knows how to take advantage of the coordination between its various worldwide entities to successfully complete the major projects entrusted to it. On the Normandy Bridge project, our MISTRAS colleagues based in the UK and the USA provided support to France and contributed to the project's success.