Bridges are a vital part of the infrastructure that shapes our society. The management of these assets against ever increasing climatic changes is providing unprecedented challenges for bridge asset owners worldwide. The effects of more frequent and severe rainfall flood events in the UK have exacerbated concerns around the management of bridge scour events. This research presents the development and field deployment of a Fiber Optic Scour Sensor (FOSS), designed to remotely monitor scour and infilling in real-time. This sensor consists of three sensing elements (fins) buried at different depths. As scouring occurs, the fins are exposed and free to move and register a response. Following the flood event, as the scour hole begins to infill, these fins are buried, and this process can be picked up on the data trace. A prototype FOSS was installed at Regent bridge in Northern Ireland; a site selected for its accessibility and suitability for monitoring. This paper outlines the installation, and the initial findings, following two storms in October 2023, demonstrating the sensor's potential for real-time scour detection in operational environments.

Bridges play a key role in the transportation network system and are vulnerable to various natural hazards. For bridges constructed over rivers, scour is one of the major causes of bridge failure.With the growing impacts of climate change, both the intensity and frequency of flood events are increasing, raising significant concerns regarding the safety and maintenance of bridge infrastructure. This study presents a method for remotely monitoring scouring which uses a Fibre Optic scour sensor based on Fibre Bragg Grating, named FOSS. The sensor comprises three sensing elements (fins), which are embedded at different depths. The systemoperates on the principle that, when erosion occurs, the movement of these fins generates a measurable response, indicating the depth of erosion. This paper presents the sensor’s characteristics and shows preliminary findings from a field deployment on a bridge in the Northern Ireland region.