BRIDGE COLLAPSE REVEALED BY MULTI-TEMPORAL SAR INTERFEROMETRY

摘要

On the night of March 4, 2001, the Hintze Ribeirorncentennial Bridge, made of steel and concrete, collapsedrnin Entre-os-Rios (Northern Portugal), killing 59 people,rnincluding those in a bus and three cars that werernattempting to reach the other side of the Douro River. Itrnstill remains the most serious road accident in thernPortuguese history.rnIn this work we do not intend to corroborate orrncontradict the official version of the accident causes, butrnonly demonstrate the potential of Multi-TemporalrnInterferometric (MTI-InSAR) techniques for detectionrnand monitoring of deformations in structures such asrnbridges, helping to prevent new catastrophic events.rnBased on the analysis of 57 ERS-1/2 covering thernperiod from December 1992 to the fatality occurrence,rnwe were able to detect significant movements (up to 20rnmm/yr) in the section of the bridge that fell in the DourornRiver, obvious signs of the bridge instability.