A Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) Detection System for Assessing Scour Countermeasures and the Stability of Hydraulic Structures

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) Final Report 183: Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) Detection System for Assessing Scour Countermeasures and the Stability of Hydraulic Structures explores a system designed to monitor scour hole evolution autonomously, continuously, and remotely near bridge piers and abutments, thus providing repeatable and reliable 3D scour data for both clear-water and live-bed scour conditions.

The system described in the report automates the collection of scour data to ensure the safety of maintenance/monitoring crews. It eliminates the need for onsite measurements during hazardous conditions, especially floods. The technology has the potential to improve manager insight and decision-making by facilitating an organizational paradigm shift to condition-based management that offers a substantial cost reduction in bridge scour monitoring through timely recognition of scour related problems and a reduction in the required man-hours for physical monitoring.

The RFID system is comprised of a reader, which is the base station that transmits radio waves through an excitation antenna to a transponder. The transmitted radio waves trigger a response in the transponder, which then transmits its unique ID, as well as other stored data, back to the excitation antenna, which relays this information to the reader and eventually a host computer.