Structivate, a planned spin-out from Technological University Dublin, has installed four SM:ART corrosion sensors on Lifford Bridge, the first live trial of a system designed to monitor corrosion continuously in ageing concrete structures. SM:ART pairs retrofitted sensors with software that combines machine learning and corrosion science to interpret the measurements, giving bridge engineers more evidence as a structure nears the end of its design life.

The probes sit at four locations in the lower nibs of the bridge’s half-joints, and installation took place on 16 July 2026, while founder Sean Bond presented to a bridges conference remotely from site.

Structivate is focusing first on half-joints, also called dapped ends, ledge beams or Gerber beams, where the nib of one element sits on the nib of its neighbour. The detail was popular between the 1960s and 1980s, but water carrying de-icing salts can pass through the joint and corrode the reinforcement in the nibs, leading to cracking over time.

Degradation of half-joints has contributed to structural collapses over the past two decades, including the De la Concorde overpass in Quebec in 2006 and the Annone Brianza overpass in Italy in 2016.

Structivate founder Sean Bond said: “Lifford Bridge is exactly the kind of structure SM was built for, ageing reinforced concrete, critical half-joints, and decisions that until now had no continuous evidence behind them.”

SM:ART came out of Bond’s PhD at TU Dublin, and the system is intended to monitor corrosion-related conditions beneath the surface of a structure between principal inspections.

From the measurements, Structivate’s platform provides corrosion-related information to support engineering judgement, and the trial data will also help train the company’s machine learning algorithms.

SM:ART combines retrofitted sensors, real-time analytics and decision-support tools, aiming to move infrastructure owners from periodic inspection to continuous monitoring, and Bond is directing a wider trial programme across Ireland and the UK.

The structural driver is the ageing stock of half-joint bridges built between the 1960s and 1980s, where corrosion develops out of sight in the nibs.

For the sector, the Lifford Bridge installation gives a bridge-monitoring technology its first live data on a 62-year-old half-joint structure.

Source: newcivilengineer.com / techcentral.ie / infrastructure-now.co.uk