Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2011 Remote monitoring and security of covered bridges in the United States Ryan Allen Sievers Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Civil Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Sievers, Ryan Allen, "Remote monitoring and security of covered bridges in the United States" (2011). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 12462. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/12462 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i Remote monitoring and security of covered bridges in the United States by Ryan Allen Sievers A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Civil Engineering (Structural Engineering) Program of Study Committee: Terry J Wipf, Major Professor Jennifer Shane Vinay Dayal Travis K Hosteng Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2012 Copyright © Ryan Allen Sievers, 2012. All Rights Reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 1.1 Overview - Covered Bridge Surveillance Project, Iowa State University .....................1 1.2 Scope of Work ...............................................................................................................2 1.3 Creative Component ......................................................................................................2 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................................4 2.1 Previous Literature with Covered Bridges .....................................................................4 2.2 The Beginning of Covered Bridges in the United States ...............................................5 2.3 Structural Integrity .........................................................................................................6 2.4 Targeting Covered Bridges: Arson and Vandalism .......................................................6 2.5 Importance of Historical Integrity ...............................................................................10 CHAPTER 3 PHYSICAL SECURITY OF STRUCTURES ........................................................12 3.1 Blue Ribbon Panel Workshop on Bridge and Tunnel Security ...................................12 CHAPTER 4 COVERED BRIDGE MONITORING SYSTEM: DESIGN ..................................15 4.1 Preliminary Decisions ..................................................................................................15 4.2 Equipment Options ......................................................................................................17 4.3 Pole Placement .............................................................................................................36 4.4 Enclosure Selection ......................................................................................................39 4.5 Power Considerations ..................................................................................................42 CHAPTER 5 SET-UP ....................................................................................................................48 5.1 Conduit .........................................................................................................................48 5.2 Wiring ..........................................................................................................................48 5.3 Attachment Devices .....................................................................................................50 5.4 Encasements .................................................................................................................50 5.5 Supplementary Equipment ...........................................................................................52 CHAPTER 6 TESTING AND MAINTENANCE .........................................................................54 6.1 In-house Testing...........................................................................................................54 6.2 In-field Testing.............................................................................................................54 6.3 Maintenance .................................................................................................................55 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................56 7.1 What These Levels of Bridge Security Hope to Accomplish ......................................56 7.2 Recommendations ........................................................................................................56 iii 7.3 Phases of Monitoring or Security System ....................................................................57 7.4 Future Research Needs ................................................................................................59 CHAPTER 8 MADISON COUNTY PROJECT ...........................................................................61 8.1 History of the Covered Bridges of Madison County ...................................................61 8.2 Security Equipment Installed .......................................................................................62 8.3 Challenges with Each Bridge .......................................................................................80 8.4 Testing........................................................................................................................101 CHAPTER 9 CASE STUDIES ....................................................................................................105 9.1 Union County Covered Bridges .................................................................................106 9.2 Knecht’s Covered Bridge ...........................................................................................107 9.3 Pomeroy-Academia Covered Bridge .........................................................................108 9.4 Cedar Covered Bridge ...............................................................................................109 9.5 Illinois Covered Bridges ............................................................................................110 APPENDIX A CREATIVE COMPONENT: INSTALLATION OF SECURITY SYSTEM IN MADISON COUNTY ................................................................................................112 A.1 Pole Site Selection ....................................................................................................112 A.2 NEMA Enclosure Selection ......................................................................................113 A.3 Install Flame Detectors .............................................................................................116 A.4 Install Cameras and Antennas ...................................................................................119 A.5 Renewable Energy System........................................................................................121 A.6 Testing of Monitoring Systems .................................................................................130 APPENDIX B DECISION MAKING TOOL .............................................................................134 APPENDIX C NCBPPA BUDGET ............................................................................................145 APPENDIX D MADISON PROJECT EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS ...............................157 CHAPTER 10 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................172 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Equipment Options .........................................................................................................16 Figure 2: Flowchart of Equipment Options ...................................................................................18 Figure 3: Equipment Selection Tool ..............................................................................................19 Figure 4: Different Types of Bollards Installed .............................................................................25 Figure 5: Standard K-rail ...............................................................................................................26 Figure 6: Chain Link Fence with Barbed Wire at 45-Degree Angle .............................................28 Figure 7: Wind Speed to Power Output Graph for 600 watt Wind Turbine ..................................45 Figure 8: AWG Chart for Diameter, Area, and Resistance ...........................................................49