Cable-stayed bridges are widely applied in long-span bridge systems, and their long-term operational safety remains a key concern. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems provide continuous multi-source data; however, environmental actions, operational loads, and structural damage may produce complex correlations that complicate condition assessment. This study investigates correlation characteristics of SHM data from a concrete cable-stayed bridge under temperature loading, vehicle loading, and cable damage scenarios. Correlation relationships among girder deflection, stay cable force, and pylon displacement were evaluated using the Pearson correlation coefficient based on processed monitoring data. Results show that temperature effects dominate long-term structural responses and generate strong global correlations, whereas vehicle loading mainly induces transient responses. Complete cable fracture significantly alters correlation structures, while partial wire breakage has limited influence. The proposed framework supports reliable structural condition assessment and damage identification.
Li et al. (Wed,) studied this question.