Use of Laser Scanning Technology to Obtain As-Built Records of Historic Covered Bridges
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United States In cooperation Department of with the Agriculture United States Use of Laser Scanning Forest Service Department of Transportation Technology to Obtain Forest Federal Products Highway Laboratory Administration As-Built Records Research Paper of Historic Covered FPL–RP–669 Bridges Robert J. Ross Brian K. Brashaw Samuel J. Anderson Abstract Contents Covered bridges are part of the fabric of American history. Introduction ..........................................................................1 Although much effort is expended to preserve these struc- Literature Review .................................................................1 tures, many are lost forever. The National Park Service’s Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) has efforts Methods................................................................................1 under way to document historic structures. Their Level I Selection of Bridges .........................................................1 documentation is defined in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Three-Dimensional Laser Scanning and Documentation and consists of measured and interpretive Data Processing ................................................................2 drawings, large-format photographs, and written historical Results ..................................................................................3 reports. To assist in this effort, newer technologies need to be explored that can provide as-built records at a faster rate Laser Scanning .................................................................3 and with more accuracy. Rapid Prototype Development .........................................4 The University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Comparison of Laser Scanning Equipment Results Research Institute (UMD NRRI), in cooperation with the with Field Measurements .................................................4 USDA Forest Products Laboratory and Federal Highway Administration, conducted a study to examine the use of Summary and Conclusions ..................................................6 laser scanning technologies for providing as-built records References ............................................................................7 for historic covered timber bridges. Additional support for the study was provided by the City of Zumbrota, Minnesota, Figures .................................................................................8 via funds from the Operational Research Program (OPERA) of the Minnesota Local Road Research Board. This research report summarizes results obtained from that study. This study is part of the Research, Technology and Keywords: Covered timber bridges, laser, scanning, historic Education portion of the National Historic Covered records Bridge Preservation (NHCBP) Program administered by the Federal Highway Administration. The NHCBP Conversion Table program includes preservation, rehabilitation and resto- English unit Conversion factor SI unit ration of covered bridges that are listed or are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; inch (in.) 25.4 millimeter (mm) research for better means of restoring, and protecting foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (m) these bridges; development of educational aids; and technology transfer to disseminate information on cov- ered bridges in order to preserve the Nation’s cultural August 2012 heritage. Ross, Robert J.; Brashaw, Brian K.; Anderson, Samuel J. 2012. Use of laser scanning technology to obtain as-built records of historic covered bridges. Research Paper FPL-RP-669. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agricul- ture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 18 p. This study is conducted under a joint agreement be- A limited number of free copies of this publication are available to the public from the Forest Products Laboratory, One Gifford Pinchot Drive, tween the Federal Highway Administration–Turner Madison, WI 53726–2398. This publication is also available online at Fairbank Highway Research Center, and the Forest www.fpl.fs.fed.us. Laboratory publications are sent to hundreds of libraries in the United States and elsewhere. Service – Forest Products Laboratory. The Forest Products Laboratory is maintained in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration Program Manager– University of Wisconsin. Sheila Rimal Duwadi, P.E. The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not imply endorsement by the United States Department of Forest Products Laboratory Program Manager– Agriculture (USDA) of any product or service. Michael A. Ritter, P.E. The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orienta- tion, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program informa- tion (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimi- nation, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250–9410, or call (800) 795–3272 (voice) or (202) 720–6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Use of Laser Scanning Technology to Obtain As-Built Records of Historic Covered Bridges Robert J. Ross, Supervisory Research General Engineer Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin Brian K. Brashaw, Program Director, Samuel J. Anderson, Engineer, University of Minnesota Duluth, Natural Resources Research Institute Introduction determine the distance to an object or surface. The distance to an object is determined by using time-of-flight between Covered bridges are part of the fabric of American history, transmission of a pulse and detection of the reflected signal. and several hundred historic covered bridges still exist to- A point cloud of data is then collected and can be converted day. Although much effort is expended to preserve these into the true shape of the object. structures, the high cost of restoration, neglect, vandalism, and arson often take their toll. Many are lost forever. One The units used in this project, a FARO LS 880 model and a of the more famous bridges from The Bridges of Madison Photon 120 model (FARO Technologies, Lake Mary, Flor- County movie fame was burned in 2003, and Hurricane ida), used similar technology to acquire the scan points. A Irene destroyed a number of New England bridges in 2011. laser beam is emitted from a rotating mirror out toward the Because we cannot completely prevent these types of inci- area being scanned. The laser beam is then reflected back to dents from occurring, the National Park Service’s Historic the scanner by objects in its path. The distance to the objects American Engineering Record (HAER) has efforts under defining an area is calculated, as well as their relative verti- way to document historic structures. Their Level I documen- cal and horizontal angles (FARO Technologies 2011a, b). tation is defined in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards Several bridge projects were noted in the literature review. and Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Documen- The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) tation. It consists of measured and interpretive drawings, completed an initial study in 1999. In this study, the goals large-format photographs, and written historical reports. To were to evaluate the technology for creating as-built draw- assist in this effort, newer technologies need to be explored ings. A comparison of traditional and 3D scanning estimated that can provide as-built records at a fast rate and with an overall time savings of 100+ person-hours through the greater accuracy. use of 3D scanning (Foltz 2000). Based on this assessment, The demonstration study summarized in this report was PennDOT purchased two laser scanners in 2000. A second conducted to examine the technical feasibility of using la- assessment was completed by Jaselskis and others in 2003, ser scanning technologies for obtaining as-built records for showing that laser scanning could be used cost effectively historic covered timber bridges. A secondary objective was for preliminary surveys to develop triangular network (TIN) to identify other applications of this technology, notably for meshes of roadway surfaces and to measure bridge beam other transportation structures. camber more safely and quickly compared with convention- al approaches. Other applications noted in this publication Literature Review showed potential applications for laser scanning to include developing as-built drawings of historical structures such as Three-dimensional (3D) laser scanners are instruments that the bridges of Madison County. record precise and accurate surface data of objects in a non- destructive manner. These instruments use an infrared beam Methods of light to calculate and record the distance to an object, typically as data points with spatial coordinates. These data Selection of Bridges are then analyzed using various types of computer software The bridges for scanning and assessment used in this study to generate a detailed image of coordinates and dimensions. are located