Acoustic and visual monitoring of Pont Masséna

The Masséna bridge, commissioned in 1970, is a 492m cable-stayed bridge located on the Paris ring road. As part of the preventive surveillance of this structure, the 4 stay cables made up of 19 single-strand cables each must be given special attention.

Thus, these stay cables were fitted with a network of 120 very high frequency vibration sensors connected to data acquisition units which record potential anomalies in real time. In the event of an abnormal event, the amplitude of the generated acoustic wave is detected by the sensors, triggering an alert. The signals emitted by each sensor are analyzed and make it possible to locate the break along the stay cable.

The acoustic monitoring system is supplemented by an infrared visual device made up of cameras in order to facilitate the analysis of the phenomenon being monitored. In post-processing, an analysis of the signals is carried out semi-automatically to locate the event on the stay cables. In order to centralize data and make it possible to visualize the timing of events, the City of Paris teams have secure access to the SIMon-e® web platform developed by SITES.

“On the Pont Masséna, to respond to the problem of our client (reinforced surveillance of the stay cables) and the challenges of intervention (maintaining road traffic on the Boulevard Périphérique Parisien, even at night), we mobilized around ten SITES people to implement a visual and acoustic monitoring device for the stay cables.
The complementarity of our teams (instrumentation, expertise in signal analysis and processing, studies, design and manufacturing workshop, civil engineering expertise, project management) was a strength that enabled us to carry out this large-scale mission, including the first installation phase was spread over 4 months before the start of an operational phase which will last nearly 3 years.
It is an important reference for SITES which shows our ability to respond to the strong challenges of the monitoring of civil engineering structures which require being at the cutting edge of technology, while taking into account the growing challenges of planning, safety and respect for the environment. "
Géraldine CAMP, Manager of the Pont Masséna - SITES project.