Remote Monitoring of Historic Covered Timber Bridges for the Prevention of Arson and Vandalism

摘要

More than 700 historic covered bridges remain in the United States. In recent years, a number of these bridges have been targeted by vandals and arsonists. Obviously, prevention of future acts of vandalism and arson is important to retaining the invaluable parts of our engineering heritage. A research team from Iowa State University, working cooperatively with the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), developed a remote security and fire detection monitoring system for covered timber bridges. This system automatically notifies emergency response personnel in the event that a fire is detected or if unauthorized activity occurs. The system was installed on the Cedar Bridge in Madison County, Iowa in 2005.