New Technology by Harmonic Footprinting Detects Metal Fatigue in Bridge Joints

Harmonic Footprinting announce the rollout of its new technology that detects fatigue in metal, preventing disasters such as bridge collapses, airplane crashes, train derailments and other accidents due to metal fatigue.

U.S. Congressman Bill Young’s Chief of Staff, Harry Glenn, met with Frank Masyada to learn about “Harmonic Footprints”, and how Footprinting can identify bridge joint fatigue long before a bridge collapses. After completing his visit, he said he would introduce Harmonic Footprinting to the Department of Transportation.

Masyada says all metals have a specific harmonic frequency, known as a “Vibrational Signature”. In the case of bridges, they actually move and sway, making adjustments to wind, heavy loads caused by traffic, even pedestrians’ movement. Each time a bridge faces a heavy truckload, the stable shape of the bridge changes slightly to handle the stress, producing a Vibrational Signature, or “Footprint”, at each bridge joint.

Harmonic Footprinting is the process of recording and comparing Vibrational Signatures of each bridge joint over a period of time. This is accomplished by installing small sensors into each metal joint. The “Footprints” are continuously synthesized and stored in a database.

Once the Footprints are captured, the Bridge can now be monitored 24/7, with new Footprints at each bridge joint constantly being recorded and sent. When the new Footprint fails to match the Footprint in the database, the bridge inspector is immediately alerted. The alert directs the inspector to the exact location of the joint in question.

The versatility of this system allows numerous bridges to be monitored simultaneously from a single location.