Experiences of dynamic identification and monitoring of bridges in serviceability conditions and after hazardous events

Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) currently represents an appealing technique for the non-destructive assessment and health monitoring of civil structures and infrastructures. Many applications have appeared in the literature in the last decade, demonstrating how this technique can support the observation and understanding of the structural behavior of bridges at different stages of their lifecycle and the remote detection of structural damage. The present paper describes some explanatory applications of OMA and modal-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) referring to bridges that have been carried out by the authors over the years. Some aspects related to the evolution of OMA in the last decade are summarized by means of the presentation and discussion of a number of case studies; they cover the fields of the non-destructive assessment and monitoring of bridges in serviceability conditions as well after hazardous events and remark the potential and the opportunities of OMA in the modern management of road infrastructures.