Calculation of the alignment of steel–concrete composite beam bridges based on point cloud data

Traditional methods for collecting and processing bridge alignment data are inefficient. This paper proposes the use of three-dimensional laser scanning technology to acquire point cloud data of steel–concrete composite beam bridges, establish point cloud models and extract bridge alignment using point cloud processing techniques. The study focuses on specific operational methods for data acquisition, data processing techniques and analysis of bridge alignment results. The feasibility and effectiveness of the method are verified through a case study of the He Ying Bridge on the Chuzhou–Tianchang Expressway in Anhui, China. The proposed method improves the efficiency of bridge alignment by 75% compared to traditional total station measurement.