Structural Identification: Opportunities and Challenges

Some of the significant opportunities and facing successful implementation of the structural identification (St-Id) in civil infrastructure are discussed. The greatest challenges in successful applications of St-Id have emerged as systems integration requirements, requiring mastery in management, modeling and simulation, experimental arts, information technology, and decision-making. Formulating effective policies, strategies, and project-specific designs for improving their performance as systems cannot be expected unless it is understood how infrastructures perform as complex systems. The St-Id may be a means of establishing a quantitative and mechanistic baseline characterization for a newly constructed system similar to a birth certificate. Some major infrastructure owners and consultants have developed an appreciation of the value of St-Id in relation to retrofit design and historic preservation.