Keep a Watchful Eye on The Bridges Reading Answers

Dec 15, 2022

Keep a Watchful Eye on The Bridges Reading Answers talks about bridges and why is it necessary to inspect bridges in given intervals. There has been increased construction of bridges globally and tragedies continues to take place at selective places. This IELTS reading passage comprises of a total of 13 questions. Keep a Watchful Eye on The Bridges Reading Answers is to be solved by the candidates within a time frame of 20 minutes. This IELTS reading assessement comprises of question types; choose the correct option. In order to solve questions in Keep a Watchful Eye on The Bridges Reading Answers candidates need to remeber the major keywords. To gain proficiency, candidates can undertake practice from IELTS Practice Papers. Candidates can discover this topic and other relevant topics in the book IELTS Reading Recent Actual Test 22.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

Keep a Watchful Eye on The Bridges Reading Answers

Most road and rail bridges are only inspected visually, if at all. Every few months, engineers have to clamber over the structure in an attempt to find problems before the bridge shows obvious signs of damage. Technologies developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, and Texas A&M University may replace these surveys with microwave sensors that constantly monitor the condition of bridges.
“The device uses microwaves to measure the distance between the sensor and the bridge, much like radar does,” says Albert Migliori, a Los Alamos physicist “Any load on the bridge – such as traffic induced displacements, which change that distance as the bridge moves up and down.” By monitoring these movements over several minutes, the researchers can find out how the bridge resonates. Changes in its behaviour can give an early warning of damage.
The Interstate 40 bridge over the Rio Grande river in Albuquerque provided the researchers with a rare opportunity to test their ideas. Chuck Farrar, an engineer at Los Alamos, explains: “The New Mexico authorities decided to raze this bridge and replace it. We were able to mount instruments on it, test it under various load conditions and even inflict damage just before it was demolished.” In the 1960s and 1970s, 2500 similar bridges were built in the US. They have two steel girders supporting the load in each section. Highway experts know that this design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail.
After setting up the microwave dish on the ground below the bridge, the Los Alamos team installed conventional accelerometers at several points along the span to measure its motion. They then tested the bridge while traffic roared across it and while subjecting it to pounding from a “shaker”, which delivered precise punches to a specific point on the road.
“We then created damage that we hoped would simulate fatigue cracks that can occur in steel girders,” says Farrar. They first cut a slot about 60 centimetres long in the middle of one girder. They then extended the cut until it reached the bottom of the girder and finally they cut across the flange – the bottom of the girder’s “I” shape.
The initial, crude analysis of the bridge’s behaviour, based on the frequency at which the bridge resonates, did not indicate that anything was wrong until the flange was damaged. But later the data were reanalysed with algorithms that took into account changes in the mode shapes of the structure – shapes that the structure takes on when excited at a particular frequency. These more sophisticated algorithms, which were developed by Norris Stubbs at Texas A&M University, successfully identified and located the damage caused by the initial cut.
“When any structure vibrates, the energy is distributed throughout with some points not moving, while others vibrate strongly at various frequencies,” says Stubbs. “My algorithms use pattern recognition to detect changes in the distribution of this energy.” NASA already uses Stubbs’ method to check the behaviour of the body flap that slows space shuttles down after they land.
A commercial system based on the Los Alamos hardware is now available, complete with the Stubbs algorithms, from the Quatro Corporation in Albuquerque for about $100,000. Tim Darling, another Los Alamos physicist working on the microwave interferometer with Migliori, says that as the electronics become cheaper, a microwave inspection system will eventually be applied to most large bridges in the US. “In a decade I would like to see a battery or solar-powered package mounted under each bridge, scanning it every day to detect changes,” he says.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation
Question 1-4:

Students are supposed to Choose the correct alphabet choice, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

Question 1. How did the traditional way to prevent damage of the bridges before the invention of new monitoring system?

Bridges has to be tested in every movement on two points.
Bridges has to be closely monitored by microwave devices.
Bridges has already been monitored by sensors.
Bridges has to be frequently inspected by professional workers with naked eyes.

Answer: D) Bridges has to be frequently inspected by professional workers with naked eyes.
Supporting Sentence: As the technologies were not well developed during the traditional times. Therefore, the engineers back in old system used to check & repair any damage with the available tools
Keywords: Rail bridge, engineers
Keyword Location: 1st paragraph, 1st line.
Explanation: Most bridges over roads and railroads are never ever visually examined. Engineers have to scale the structure every few months in an effort to detect issues before the bridge exhibits evident indications of degradation..

Question 2. How do the new microwave monitors find out the problems of bridges?

by changeling the distance between the positions of devices
by controlling the traffic flow on the bridges
by monitoring the distance caused by traffic between two points
by displacement of the several critical parts in the bridges

Answer: C) by monitoring the distance caused by traffic between two points
Supporting sentence: By monitoring these movements for a few minutes, the researchers are able to find out how the bridge resonates. Changes in its pattern can give an early warning of damage.
Keywords: microwave, radar, sensor
Keyword location: 2nd paragraph. 1st line.
Explanation:Similar to how radar works, the technology employs microwaves to detect the distance between a sensor and a bridge.

Question 3. Why did the expert believe there is a problem for the design called “fracture critical”

Engineers failed to apply the newly developed construction materials.
There was not enough finance to repair the bridges.
The supporting parts of the bridges may crack and cause the bridge to fail.
There were bigger traffic load conditions than the designers had anticipated.

Answer: C The supporting parts of the bridges may crack and cause the bridge to fail
Supporting sentence: There were steel girders supporting the load in each section. The design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail as one girder is not strong enough to bare the load of whole bridge
Keywords: Fracture, failure, girder.
Keyword location: 3rd paragraph, last line.
Explanation: Highway professionals are aware of this design's "fracture critical" nature because the failure of any girder would result in the collapse of the bridge.

Question 4. Defect was not recognized by a basic method in the beginning.

until the middle of the faces of bridges has fractures.
until the damage appears along and down to the flanges.
until the points on the road have been punched.
until the frequency of resonates appears disordered.

Answer: B until the damage appears along and down to the flanges.
Supporting Sentence: It means that the early damages were not recognized in the bridge until the parts further got injured till the flanges. But later the data were reanalysed with algorithms that took into account changes in the mode shapes of the structure.
Keywords: Bridge, flange, frequency
Keyword location: 6th paragraph, 1st line.
Explanation: Before the flange was harmed, the initial, basic examination of the bridge's behaviour, which was based on the frequency at which the bridge resonates, did not indicate anything was amiss.

Questions 5-8:
Filling the blanks in the diagram labels.
Write the correct answer in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.

Question 5. Something circular, appear below the bridge:

Answer: Microwave dish
Supporting sentence: Highway experts set up the microwave dish below the bridge on ground with accelerometers to measure the motion.
Keywords: Microwave, accelerometers, motion
Keyword location: 4th paragraph, 1st line
Explanation: The Los Alamos team placed traditional accelerometers at various locations along the span after positioning the microwave dish on the ground beneath the bridge to record motion.

Question 6. Something small, appear along the bridge:

Answer: Accelerometers
Supporting sentence: The conventional accelerometers are installed to measure the motion, after which the bridge was tested when the traffic was quite high.
Keywords: Accelerometers, motion, traffic
Keyword Location: 4th paragraph, 1st line.
Explanation: The bridge was tested with a lot of traffic after the traditional accelerometers were fitted to measure the motion. This justifies the given question’s perspective, thus thwe answer is accelerometers.

Question 7.Two things under the bridge and are supporting it:

Answer: Steel Girders
Supporting Sentence: The Mexico authorities decided to test the bridge under varied load conditions to see how much pressure the bridge can handle. Also, they decided to inflict damage before it was taken down. They had two steel girders supporting the load in each section
Keywords: Steel girders, bridge, damage.
Keyword location: 3rd Paragraph, 4th line
Explanation: In the US, 2500 identical bridges were constructed between the 1960s and the 1970s. Each part of them has two steel girders sustaining the weight.

Question 8. Something under the bridge with a “L” (or “I”) shape:

Answer: Flange
Supporting sentence: There were damages created for simulating the cracks that were probably going to occur in steel girders. They first cut a slot about 60 centimetres long in the middle of one girder. They then extended the cut until it reached the bottom of the girder and finally they cut across the flange
Keywords: Engineers, flange, cracks
Keyword location: 5th paragraph, last line.
Explanation: The cut was prolonged by the engineers until it reached the girder's bottom, at which point they made a crosscut across the flange, the "I"-shaped bottom of the girder.

Questions 9-13:
The reading Passage has eight paragraphs, A–H.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A–H, in boxes 9–13 on your answer sheet.

Question 9. How is the pressure that they have many great chances to test bridges?

Answer: C
Supporting sentence: In the 1960s and 1970s, 2500 similar bridges were built in the US. They had two steel girders supporting the load of each section. Highway experts knew that this design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail.
Keywords: damage, authorities, instruments
Keyword location: 3rd Paragraph, 3rd line
Explanation: The government of New Mexico made the decision to demolish and rebuild this bridge. Before it was destroyed, we were able to install instruments on it, test it under various stress circumstances, and even cause damage.

Question 10. A ten-year positive change for microwave device:

Answer: H
Supporting sentence: A commercial system based on the Los Alamos hardware is available, complete with the Stubbs algorithms. In a decade there is a possibility of a battery or solar-powered package mounted under each bridge, scanning it every day to detect changes.
Keywords: electronics, microwave, bridges
keyword location: 8th paragraph, 2nd line.
Explanation: Most significant bridges in the US will eventually use a microwave inspection system when the electronics become more affordable.

Question 11. The chance they get a honorable contract:

Answer: G
Supporting Sentence: When any structure is vibrating, the energy is divided throughout with some points not in motion, while others vibrate strongly at different frequencies,” says Stubbs. His algorithms use pattern recognition to detect changes in the distribution of this energy.
Keywords: NASA, frequency, algorithms, energy, space shuttle
Keyword location: 7th paragraph, last line.
Explanation: It can be concluded from the reading passage that Stubbs’ method is adapted by NASA in order to keep a check on the behaviour of the body flap that are portrayed by the space shuttles after they space shuttles.

Question 12. Explanation of the mechanism for the new microwave monitoring to work:

Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: By monitoring these movements with the device which uses a microwave to measure distance for a few minutes, the researchers can find out how the bridge resonates. Changes in its pattern can give an early warning of damage.
Keywords: traffic, distance, bridge, microwave.
Keyword location: 2nd paragraph, 2nd line
Explanation: As mentioned in the reading passage that any form of load on the bridge shich can be in the form of traffic induced displacements. These are responsible fir changing the distance as the bridge functions in an up and down manner.

Question 13. how is the damage deliberately created by the researchers

Answer: E
Supporting Answer: The Engineers created damage that they hoped would simulate fatigue cracks that can occur in steel girders.
Keywords: Steel girders, flange.
Keyword location: 5th paragraph, 2nd line
Explanation: First, the engineers made a 60 cm-long slot in the middle of one girder. Finally, they cut through the flange after extending the cut until it reaches the bottom of the girder.

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