Kistler unveils fully digital Structural Health Monitoring solution for bridge monitoring

Amsterdam, January 2026 – At Intertraffic Amsterdam (March 10–13), Kistler will present its latest innovation in infrastructure monitoring: its first fully digital Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system for bridges. This next-generation solution marks a significant leap forward in how operators monitor, maintain, and protect critical assets – combining real-time structural insights with data-driven decision-making to ensure safety and longevity. Visitors can find free trade fair tickets on the Kistler website.

Across the globe, aging bridge infrastructure faces unprecedented challenges. Increasing traffic volumes and heavier vehicle loads accelerate fatigue and structural degradation, yet maintenance budgets remain tight. At the same time, damage often develops long before it becomes visible, making early detection essential to avoid costly repairs or dangerous failures.

The new fully digital SHM solution from Kistler for bridge monitoring addresses these challenges head-on. The measurement system delivers actionable insights and an objective view of how bridges behave under actual operating conditions. This enables infrastructure operators to detect damage at an early stage, to prioritize maintenance effectively, and extend service life.

From analog to digital: increased flexibility and precision

Until now, structural health monitoring solutions have relied heavily on analog technology. The new system from Kistler introduces a fully digital architecture that offers significantly greater flexibility, precision, and ease of integration. At the heart of the new SHM solution are state-of-the-art digital sensors. All sensors are fully digital and organized in flexible sensor clusters that can be installed in daisy chain or star topologies. This modular approach allows optimal adaptation to any type of bridge geometry while minimizing cabling effort.

The system continuously measures key structural parameters, including strain, displacement, cracks, vibration, inclination and temperature. Open interfaces allow operators to integrate additional custom sensors as needed. To ensure perfect time alignment among all channels and maximum data reliability, all sensor clusters are synchronized within microseconds. The sensors come in a robust, weatherproof design with full immunity to electromagnetic interference. Thanks to their self-configuring digital technology, setup time is dramatically reduced, and manual adjustments are minimized, resulting in a faster and more cost-efficient installation.

Combining digital Structural Health Monitoring with Weigh In Motion for even better bridge safety

For complete monitoring data and active bridge protection, the new digital SHM system can be combined with the proven Weigh In Motion (WIM) technology from Kistler. Installed upstream of the bridge, WIM systems measure traffic loads and detect overloaded vehicles, which can be automatically fined or prevented from using the bridge. Both SHM and WIM data streams are processed by a dedicated edge device (IPC), ensuring high-resolution data capture with precise time synchronization. Operators can configure time- and event-based triggers as well as automatic alarms that notify them when sensor readings exceed predefined thresholds. It is also possible to directly correlate traffic loads with the resulting structural impact, giving infrastructure operators real-time visibility into how traffic affects structural health.

Proven expertise: reference projects worldwide

Bridge owners and operators worldwide rely on the Structural Health Monitoring and Weigh In Motion technology from Kistler to monitor and protect bridges. At the Washington Bridge in Providence, Rhode Island, for instance, Kistler implemented an integrated WIM and SHM solution to support operators during restoration work on the historic structure. Increased traffic volumes required real-time insights into actual vehicle loads and the bridge’s corresponding structural behavior. By correlating traffic data with vibration, strain, and movement measurements, engineers could derive site-specific load ratings based on real data rather than conservative assumptions. This improved maintenance planning and safety interventions.

The WIM technology is also deployed on major international bridge projects, such as the longest bridge in Southeast Asia, the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge (Penang Second Bridge) in Malaysia. As part of a high-speed WIM program, the system is installed to continuously monitor vehicle loads and traffic patterns across the 24-kilometer crossing between mainland Malaysia and Penang Island. The accurate traffic and axle load data supports the operation and maintenance of one of the most important transport links in Southeast Asia long-term.

For even larger structures, such as the 915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey, multiple Kistler WIM sensing lanes offer continuous insights into live traffic loads and number of overloaded vehicles. Integrated into the existing monitoring framework, the system allows operators to correlate real traffic conditions with structural response and environmental influences. The resulting data support more accurate fatigue assessments, service life predictions, and site-specific load ratings– critical factors for long-term bridge protection.

Visitors to Intertraffic Amsterdam will have the opportunity to see Kistler’s fully digital solution in action. Those interested can register for free using this link: Get your free pass here.