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Bridge infrastructure is aging rapidly across the globe, faces increasing challenges due to fatigue, dynamic loads, and environmental deterioration, which pose risks to the structural safety and long-term sustainability. While traditional Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are more reliable, they often require expensive equipment, skilled technicians, and can cause traffic disruptions during installation. This paper presents an alternative approach to bridge management that is sustainable, non- destructive, and cost-effective which uses modern smartphones as SHM tools. Modern smartphones are now equipped with highly sensitive accelerometers and gyroscopes and can collect vibration and movement data from bridges with surprising accuracy during normal train operations. In this study, commercially available smartphones were directly mounted on bridge elements and data was collected using the “Phyphox” mobile application during live train passages. The acceleration data along three orthogonal directions was processed to extract key dynamic characteristics such as natural frequencies, velocity and mode shapes, which are critical indicators of structural integrity. The findings indicate that smartphone sensors are capable of capturing meaningful structural vibrations suitable for condition assessment, especially for preliminary diagnostics and routine inspections. The methodology was tested on a case study steel railway bridge in the Sri Lanka Railways network. Results confirm the adaptability, practicality, and accuracy of smartphone-based monitoring in real-world conditions. This approach allows for more frequent, scalable, and inclusive monitoring, especially in remote or resource-constrained environments, promoting sustainability through reduced costs, minimized carbon footprint, and enhanced community involvement. By enabling proactive maintenance, this strategy contributes to safer, more resilient infrastructure in line with sustainable development goals.