Skip to content

The Living Bridge Portsmouth Memorial Bridge

Sponsors: NSF | NHDOT | FHWA | DOE

Explore the Bridge
Research
Educational Resources
Researcher Login
About
- Research Team
- Sponsors
Search for:

The Living Bridge Portsmouth Memorial Bridge

Portsmouth Side

Half of the Memorial Bridge is located in Portsmouth, connecting the town to Kittery, Maine.

Administration

Log in
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
WordPress.org

Site Pages

Photo Gallery
Researcher Login
Research

Project Overview

Imagine a bridge crossing over a tidal estuary, a local landmark that deeply resonates with an entire community; a bridge that is a living laboratory for researchers, engineers, future engineers and the general public. This bridge is instrumented with sensors that capture structural performance, traffic patterns, environmental conditions, the behavior of innovative bridge design elements and enable and promote community engagement. The information collected with these sensors is shared with researchers, bridge designers and the bridge owner, but also, where appropriate, with K-12 classrooms and the public. Aesthetic lighting and social media is used to communicate relevant information from the bridge and environmental sensors, such as weather, tides and traffic to the local community. The bridge sensor network, information communication system and aesthetic lighting are powered by a locally available renewable energy resource, tidal energy. This bridge has the capability to advance all aspects of community engagement with infrastructure, clean energy innovation in tidal energy conversion, energy storage, structural and environmental impact and social perception of our engineered environment. The proposed sensing network, including structural response sensors, underwater instrumentation and cameras, and weather stations, will allow for a complete system-based evaluation, including the impact of the tidal turbine. This “smart bridge” provides a platform for continued innovation of sensor, communication and energy technologies. This is the vision behind the Living Bridge project.

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Sydney by aThemes.