5. Dissemination, Integration, and Interpretation of BEAST Data

Figure 34. Normalized IR images captured from different altitudes with vertical angle to the deck

(a) 45 feet altitude at 4:00 pm on April 28th, 2021

(b) 80 feet altitude at 5:30 pm on July 27th, 2021 Figure 35. Normalized IR images captured from different angles

5. Dissemination, Integration, and Interpretation of BEAST Data

One of the primary objectives of BEAST experiment was to speed up bridge component deterioration as much as 30 times in order to simulate 15-20 years of wear-and-tear in just a few months. At BEAST, this was successfully conducted by applying controlled and accelerated live load, environmental, and maintenance demands on full-scale bridge superstructures. Several steps are required in order to capture appropriate information from the BEAST experiment in order to achieve the long-term performance of bridge components. To achieve such objective, the following sections will outline the step-by-step analysis of BEAST data. In the first step, the time scaling of the BEAST accelerated experiment is compared to deterioration at a real-world pace. In the second step, the average performance of a typical bridge (similar to BEAST) in Pennsylvania is calculated based on the analysis of historical data available at the InfoBridge [61]. The performance of this bridge (as the representative of PA bridges) is then refined based on the visual inspection of the BEAST specimen. In the third step, performance