Assessing Steel Bridges Structural Condition using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)

Civil Engineering | Fall 2021

For this research project, our team investigated the application of LiDAR-based technologies in steel bridge maintenance and inspection. The project focused on the steel bridge that spans Highland Dr, located on Cal Poly's Campus. Using terrestrial laser scanning and software like Scene and CloudCompare, we were able to register scans and compare point clouds. We also worked on the point clouds in MATLAB, with the ultimate goal of being able to generate an as-built BIM.

Our Team

Luke Psomas

Luke is a third-year studying civil engineering at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. He is currently studying civil engineering and taking design classes this year.

Ryan Trainor

Ryan is a second-year student at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo. He is currently studying civil engineering, and hopes to pursue a career in industry when he graduates

Dr. Hani Alzraiee

Hani is an Assistant Professor in Construction Engineering for Cal Poly’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department as well as a Co-Director for the Granite Heavy Civil Minor. He served as a research advisor and mentor for this project.

Our Video

Our Project

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the personal donors and Cal Poly’s College of Engineering for funding this project and allowing us to explore this industry relevant research.

Final Thoughts

We are grateful for the opportunity to work on this project and the support that we have received from the College of Engineering through this program. We believe that there is potential for real development to be made in this area of construction engineering. We hope to continue working towards automatic generation of as-built building information models in the future.