Open structural monitoring data from two extensively instrumented road sections – case Aurora

In 2017, the Finnish Transport Agency (FTA) launched an open testing ecosystem of intelligent transport and infrastructure solutions, known as Aurora. The Aurora test area consists of an approximately 10 km section of main highway E8 South from the village of Muonio, Finnish Lapland. Regarding road infrastructure, the core of the testing ecosystem consists of two extensively instrumented road sections, one of which is located on a stiff substructure area and the other on a softer substructure area. Commissioned by the FTA, the structural instrumentation of Aurora monitoring sections was accomplished jointly by Tampere University of Technology (TUT) and Roadscanners Ltd (RS). Instrumentations installed in these sections enable both continuous monitoring of structural condition and structural responses during vehicle overpasses. In addition, a nearby concrete slab bridge furnished with a Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) system enables monitoring of the vehicle masses. A unique feature of the monitoring systems described in more detail in this article is that all the monitoring results to be collected during a period of three years are made publicly available via the FTA website as open data.