Rail Projects Brochure (Global)

This brochure provides you with a selection of rail projects using remote wireless monitoring technology.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Rail Projects

More than 10,000 railroad sensors were installed in 2020 alone.

Senceive wireless solutions are in use on hundreds of rail tracks, structures and earthworks worldwide. Engineers, surveyors and owners are relying on them for real-time insights and automated alerts to inform data-driven decision making.

This document highlights just a few of the rail sites where users have applied Senceive technology.

If you can measure it, you can manage it.

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Get early warning of landslips to prevent accidents and delays

Prevent bridge failures through structural health monitoring

Manage your liabilities to third parties using sensors that are discreet and non-disruptive

Measure changes in track geometry to optimise your maintenance programme

Monitor ground behaviour to build and manage tunnels effectively

www.senceive.com

Track geometry monitoring, Norway Senceive systems are built to operate reliably in the hottest and coldest climates.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Sydney Metro Upgrade - Trackbed Monitoring CLIENT: POSITION PARTNERS / VERIS How Veris delivered around the clock deformation monitoring and reporting at Sydenham as part of a major Australian metro upgrade project Challenge Veris is a national, ASX-listed, company that provides comprehensive surveying, digital & spatial and planning services Australia-wide. Solution Used to measure any movement in the rail track, the Senceive wireless monitoring platform delivered live, 24-hour reporting that would alert the Veris team to the slightest changes on the trackbed.

Australia

Veris was engaged to provide surveying services for the Sydenham Metro Upgrade project, a $301 million investment that involves significant upgrades to the existing rail track and Sydenham Station as part of the conversion of the T3 Bankstown line to Sydney Metro standards. Working closely with principal contractors John Holland and Laing O’Rourke, along with the client Sydney Metro, Veris recommended the use of wireless monitoring technology during a stage of the project that involved under-bore tunnelling to run utility cables under the rail track.

Survey Manager for the project, Filipe Guerreiro, said the system came recommended internally by Veris’ National Monitoring Manager. “My colleague confirmed they had successfully deployed the technology on other projects in Queensland and Victoria, so I contacted the local team at Position Partners to find out more,” he said. Although traditional total-station based monitoring was already in place on the project, Mr Guerreiro explained that the client required 24-hour live reporting that couldn’t be delivered easily with the traditional setup. “We were under tight time constraints to deliver a solution, so we needed something that was fast and easy to deploy,” he said. “With the wireless system we were able to quickly install multiple sensors to measure lateral movements, as well as short and long twist, over 28 metres of rail track,” he said.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Sydney Metro Upgrade - Trackbed Monitoring

Australia

Outcome The Senceive FlatMesh™ system included 43 tilt sensors and 12 optical displacement sensors along with the gateway. The sensors connected wirelessly to a solar-powered gateway. Data from the sensors was relayed wirelessly to the gateway and onwards to a web portal. “The solution provided live reporting around the clock, as well as access to the data from anywhere with an internet connection, whether working from home or in the office,” Mr Guerreiro added. All stakeholders, including the client and the construction crews on site, could access the data. “I think the system has a lot of advantages over traditional monitoring setups because it is more flexible and gives live reporting,” Mr Guerreiro said.

“Engineers are still a little hesitant to trust in the technology 100% as you cannot change work methodologies overnight, so we continued to run the traditional setup as a back-up to the wireless system,” he added. Although the Veris team was able to install and set up the Senceive system themselves, Mr Guerreiro said having the advisory and support capabilities of a local distributor was important. “It was a steep learning curve for me and my team because we were under time constraints to get the work completed and it was new technology to me, but having the support of the Position Partners team along with my colleagues in Veris that had experience with it was invaluable,” he said.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Italy

Tuscan Apennines - Trackbed Monitoring CLIENT: GD TEST How a reliable wireless system provided an early warning alert system for a remote railway line on rugged mountain terrain

Challenge The Tuscan-Emilian Apennines is part of the Northern Apennines mountain range in Italy where roads and railways have been built on very rugged terrain - steep slopes and plateaus are interspersed with narrow valleys. Concern had arisen regarding possible slope movement affecting one of the east-west rail routes across the region. The Italian railway authority comissioned GD Test, a geotechnical and environmental services company to monitor the railway tracks affected. Due to the remote location and absense of any mains power supply, as well as the requirement of the Italian railway authority stipulating a monitoring system with near real-time reporting rates and alarms to ensure safety of train users, the use of a trusted wireless system was required.

Solution Due to the relatively small monitoring area and need for a reliable system that could tolerate damage to individual devices without loss of performance, GD Test chose Senceive’s FlatMesh™ platform. They installed 18 Senceive wireless triaxial tiltmeters on the railway sleepers at critical locations, to monitor cant, longitudinal level, and twist at 3 m and 9 m. Data was transmitted from the sensors to a gateway with solar panel and onto a secure cloud-based server and data management platform - WebMonitor™. The system operated with a one minute reporting rate. Alarms were set to be triggered in the event of any movement outside the defined thresholds and send notifications by SMS and email alert.

Outcome Once monitoring started, data was immediately available on WebMonitor™ visualisation software. Data accuracy and reliability were very useful, allowing GD Test and the customer to make rapid decisions in case the movement exceeded the pre-set threshold values. Even in the presence of rainy and cold periods, all data were read by the sensors and transmitted by the gateway to the web portal without any interruptions. The wireless system was powered by a solar panel which proved to be effective despite short winter daylight hours. The choice of a FlatMesh™ remote monitoring solution proved ideal for this challenging site. The system provided reliable performance and precise measurement to reassure stakeholders that they would get early warning of any significant track movement.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Tuscan Apennines - Trackbed Monitoring CLIENT: GD TEST

Graph: Railway monitoring - twist presentation

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Monitoring bridge movement, Italy Tilt sensors were installed on steel and masonry elements across the structure in a single day; they will operate remotely for 10 to 15 years.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Monitoring at Sandpoint - Idaho

United States

Thanks to the FlatMesh™ wireless platform, all sensors remain connected across the bridge and are providing continuous data without the need for cabling and post-installation track access. The Senceive team worked hand-in-hand with the engineering crew to integrate all raw data, geometry calculations and alerts on their visualisation platform through an API.

Construction of a second rail bridge over Lake Pend Oreille will alleviate pressure on a longstanding bottleneck restricting capacity in the region. The second crossing will allow train movements in and out of the busy Spokane-Sandpoint “Funnel” with little or no delay. The project team was tasked with monitoring the impact of the excavation and pile driving for the new structure, which is adjacent to the existing bridge. Conditions at Sandpoint are challenging for any monitoring solution; snow falls on an average of 80

days each year, December temperatures average 18.5°F (-7.5°C), and the existing bridge is typically used 60 times every day – mostly by very heavy freight trains. The team implemented a wireless monitoring solution comprising 410 Senceive tilt nodes (FM3N-IXH) installed on track ties every 12 ft to monitor:

• Cross-level • Twist • Dip

The system will be in use for three years and will provide critical information - whatever the weather.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Spain

Igualada - Railway Track Monitoring CLIENT: FGC - FERROCARRILS DE LA GENERALITAT DE CATALUNYA / INFRATEC How an integrated multi-sensor wireless monitoring system helped engineers understand track behaviour in varying weather conditions.

Challenge The Llobregat - Anoia railway is a metre-gauge line operated by FGC - Ferrocarriles de la Generalidad de Cataluña (Railway of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia). Concern had arisen regarding changes in track geometry in response to variations in temperature. There was particular interest in a section of the track with a tight curve (radius of 105 metres in length of 300 metres). The engineers responsible for the line wanted to model track behaviour and needed information on displacement of the rails, as well as the ambient and rail temperature.

Solution A wireless condition monitoring system from Senceive was selected for the project. This was installed by Spanish instrumentation and monitoring experts INFRATec. The solution comprised optical displacement nodes with integrated tilt sensors measuring movement of the rails. In addition, external temperature nodes were fitted to the rails and integrated with the wireless monitoring system using Senceive PT100 RTD sensor nodes. These were fixed to the sleepers with adhesive. A number of optical displacement sensors were also installed on the OLE gantries using adjustable brackets that were highly stable and quick to fit and remove. Senceive sensors work autonomously, and can operate without maintenance for up to 15 years. Measurement data was transferred wirelessly every 30 minutes to be accessed by stakeholders using WebMonitor software.

Outcome The FlatMesh™ system was quickly and efficiently installed, without disrupting train movements. It provided the required information over a three- month period. This enabled analysis of the relationship between track movement and changes in temperature.

KEY POINTS

• Railway operator concerned about excessive track movement due to big variations in temperature • Combined displacement and temperature measurement in single wireless system • Easy to install and remove for short-term deployment

A monitoring system was needed that was easy to install and remove after a three-month period.

There was a need to compare movement of the track and sleepers with other structures such as overhead line equipment (OLE) gantries.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Norway

Trackbed Monitoring - Follobanen CLIENT: CAUTUS GEO / BANE NOR Monitoring high speed rail and train station construction on Norway’s largest transportation project

Outcome The installed system has minimized the need for site visits and enabled a targeted decision making response during this lengthy project. The sensors are housed in robust enclosures with protective antenna caps, making them ideal for the harsh conditions. “The sensors from Senceive have proved to be of very good quality. They can withstand ‘Norwegian conditions’ with periods of heavy precipitation and large temperature changes. They have a long battery life, are very robust and very accurate,” says Krangnes. “There are demanding ground conditions in the station area where construction pits will be established near the current track and the station building. It is therefore important to have sensors we can trust and near real-time data that gives an alarm if something happens in the ground,” says CEO Atle Gerhardsen in Cautus Geo. Senceive’s sensors allow partners like Cautus Geo to integrate a higher level of risk mitigation and safety into their monitoring projects. Senceive’s technology is helping them to protect people and assets in the world’s most complex and dangerous environments.

Challenge The Follobanen project started in 2015 and is a planned 22.5 km high speed railway between Oslo, Norway’s capital, and the public transport centre at Ski. The project will involve the realignment of tracks for the existing Østfold Line on the approach to Oslo Central Station and between the tunnel and the new Ski Station, as well as the construction of a new double railway track. As part of the project, a completely new station is being built at Ski for both local and passing high speed trains. Oslo’s Central Station will also receive an extensive renovation. Due to the extensive construction works, Cautus Geo was called on to monitor rail conditions on the Oslo side of the project, as well as monitoring both rails and construction activity near the new Ski station. They needed a wireless monitoring solution for both ease of installation and the abiilty to monitor site condtions remotely. Cautus Geo worked with Senceive’s Norwegian distributor Measure It to select Senceive’s high precision tilt sensors because of their robustness and suitability for tough conditions at sites where construction activity is taking place.

Solution Cautus Geo installed 300 triaxial tilt sensors on railway sleepers at critical areas on the Oslo side of the project to monitor deformation. An additional 13 sensors were installed in an existing building near Ski Station to ensure the building foundation was not adversely affected by the construction work. The mesh network formed by the wireless sensors was set up to relay data from the sensors to Senceive servers via a solar powered gateway and on to Cautus Geo’s own visualisation software ‘Cautus Web’. Any discrepancies or movements beyond the established threshold values trigger an alarm that is sent to nominated stakeholders. “We have had several alarms, but train traffic and construction work have not been disrupted. The alarms provide an opportunity to check the cause and assess potential mitigating measures. The goal is to ensure safety throughout the entire project period” says Cautus Geo CTO Lars Krangnes.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

United Kingdom

Track Monitoring: Victoria Station CLIENT: LONDON UNDERGROUND / TWBN Enabling a grouting team to stabilise ground below London Underground tunnel at Victoria Station without damage to track

Challenge The upgrade to London’s Victoria Railway Station was a large and complex undertaking. As part of the project, an underpass had to be tunneled directly beneath a shallow brick-lined tunnel carrying the District and Circle Line. In order to stabilise the permeable ground before the tunnelling took place it was treated using the TAM grouting process. The work had to be conducted during short Engineering Hours access windows. In order to manage the risk of ground heave damaging the tracks, the client required a real-time, high-precision monitoring solution that could be quickly deployed during each shift. Optical methods were rejected because lines of sight could not be guaranteed. Wired monitoring systems were also rejected because they would have been prone to damage and would have been slow to deploy. A wireless monitoring solution using the Senceive FlatMesh™ platform was selected.

Solution During grouting, movement could occur in any part of the 30 metre zone across two separate tracks. TWBN employed Senceive’s patented and specially upgraded magnetic mountings to secure the 20 wireless sensors directly onto the surface of the rail. Using the highly responsive FlatMesh™ wireless communications platform the system was operational within a few minutes of installation at the start of each shift. It was able to report any movement in excess of 0.009 degrees of angular tilt. Reporting frequency was set at no more than one minute. All this was carried out without signal or power cables.

Outcome The sensors communicated in real-time to a gateway attached to a laptop computer on the site. For this project, functionality was added to ensure that clear visual alerts and audible alarms would be triggered by any movement above pre-set trigger levels. This meant that the computer did not have to be permanently manned, allowing the engineer responsible for monitoring to complete other tasks. The data were characterised by a high level of stability throughout the grouting programme. The small levels of movement that were identified were corroborated by levelling surveys. No false alarms were raised. This unique use of Senceive’s award-winning tunnel and rail-focused technology was installed on site within three weeks of the initial proposal. Senceive specialists worked alongside shift engineers for the first two nights, to ensure all was well and the system was fully understood. After that, the monitoring was exclusively carried out by TWBN engineers who were extremely pleased with its overall performance and benefits.

KEY POINTS

• Installed and removed for every night shift • Operated by non-specialists • Sub-minute reporting intervals • Reliable, precise measurement of movement enabled ground stabilisation team to operate with confidence

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Track geometry monitoring, USA Nano Tilt Sensors on sleepers can monitor rail cant (crosslevel), twist and settlement.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

United Kingdom

Trackbed Monitoring - Kidbrooke CLIENT: NETWORK RAIL / COSTAIN Safeguarding South East London railway track during piling works at adjacent construction site

Challenge A large property development next to Kidbrooke Station in South-East London involved an extended programme of piling within close proximity to the railway. In order to be kept informed of any impact on the track Network Rail/Costain commissioned a monitoring exercise. It was decided that both tracks would be monitored for cant and twist along a 225 m length of track. Costain opted for a wireless monitoring solution rather than an optical survey one because more site visits would have been needed, for example to check and clean prisms. They used Senceive’s standard dual axis high precision tilt sensors because of their robustness and suitability for tough conditions at sites where contraction and maintenance activity is taking place.

Solution The sensors were placed at standard 3 m centres on the track closest to the area of potential movement and at 6 m centres on the zone farther away. A monitoring duration of approximately 16 months was planned. A total of 113 nodes with two solar powered 3G gateways were installed in a single shift to provide a wire and mains-power free solution. Sensors were fitted with protective aerial caps to ensure resilience to passing traffic and other activity. They provided high precision monitoring at 0.053 mm/m on a nominal 1.435 track guage, with extremely high repeatability.

Outcome Multiple alert levels were set up for the Network Rail and Costain engineers on email and SMS/text. Data were made available in real time for authorised users on Senceive’s easy to use and remotely accessible WebMonitor software. Data showed an interesting periodic pattern of deformation/settlement of up to 4 mm at certain times of the day. Once analysed, it was concluded that this deformation corresponded to trains being at standstill when waiting at the platform. This demonstrated the sensitivity and reliability of the Senceive system.

Fig. Cyclic pattern in data due to deformation when train at platform

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

United Kingdom

Slope Monitoring: Barnehurst CLIENT: NETWORK RAIL / COSTAIN

How an intelligent earthworks solution provided early warning of slope failure to prevent a major incident

Challenge Network Rail manages nearly 200,000 earthworks assets, most of which are more than 150 years old. Victorian engineers left a highly variable range of earth structures that includes many steep embankments and cuttings with questionable drainage and few records. Increasingly frequent severe storms have caused unprecedented numbers of failures, with February 2020 seeing close to 100 failures alone – the worst month since reliable records began. Despite this, the number of derailments attributable to earthworks failure has consistently fallen in recent years, with proactive, data-driven decision making at the heart of this achievement. Analysis of various types of information, ranging from weather data to frequent visual inspection of high risk sites has helped asset managers detect problems, prioritize resources and manage train movements to reduce the risks. Wireless remote monitoring has proved to be a particularly valuable means of detecting the early stages of ground movement before any material has encroached on the track.

Solution The value of wireless monitoring was demonstrated at Barnehurst on Network Rail’s Bexleyheath line in 2019. Around 200 Senceive triaxial tilt sensors and seven cellular cameras were installed on the slope above the track. In the early hours of Monday February 11 th some of the nodes detected slow and gradual ground movement. The system automatically requested further data samples from nearby nodes to see if the initial small movements were widespread. It also “told” the gateway to stay open in order to transmit data and minimise any lag in decision making. These smart characteristics combined to provide a picture of the situation at any point in time. With alerts and alarms from sensors and images from the cameras being automatically sent to the route engineers as trigger points were breached, it provided an early indication of the potential for failure.

Outcome By the time it finally collapsed a few hours later it left a tree and a heap of debris on the track, but everyone was ready and the line was closed to traffic.

Repairs were completed and the line was re-opened a week later.

KEY POINTS

• Network Rail manages 200,000 earthworks assets

• Frequent inspection of all sites is not practical • Wireless remote monitoring can detect early signs of slope failure, preventing disruption and potentially saving lives

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

United Kingdom

Large Scale Trackbed Monitoring at Crossrail PML CLIENT: MORGAN SINDALL / NR / DLR / CROSSRAIL How an extensive two-year wireless monitoring scheme helped avoid disruption during major London rail upgrade project

Challenge A strategic programme of works was undertaken to improve transport links to the site that had hosted the London 2012 Olympics Games. This included demolition and replacement of the Pudding Mill Lane Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in order to make space for a new Crossrail tunnel portal. Contractor Morgan Sindall was responsible for the works. They were required to monitor the numerous Network Rail and DLR tracks to ensure that there was no significant movement or disruption for a period of some two years. Concerns had been raised about the effectiveness of optical monitoring at the site so they looked for other ways to measure track cant and twist with high precision, reliability and stability.

Solution Working in close cooperation with the Morgan Sindall team, Senceive supported the installation of more than 700 high precision wireless tilt meters. These were attached directly to railway sleepers on five DLR and Network Rail lines. All the sensors communicated via a mesh network, transmitting data from the site through a solar-powered GPRS gateway. Working in this way, there were no need for power or communications cables, making the system far less likely to suffer damage or impede others during the extended construction period. Track cant and twist measurements were accessible to stakeholders in realtime using Senceive WebMonitor software. The data showed high levels of stability and accuracy at below 0.1 mm on a 1.435 m track beam length (see Figure 1). There were no spikes or false alerts or alarms.

Outcome The system provide capable of detecting very small movements, whilst providing stable and repeatable data. It picked up real movement at a very early stage and allowed the surveying team to respond rapidly. When compared to more traditional approaches based on optical survey instruments the wireless solution compares favourably. Installation time and disruption to the railways was minimal. Following installation, there was no need to re-visit the site to maintain or clean the wireless system – which would have been necessary if an optical system using reflector prisms was used. This brought significant safety and cost benefits to the project.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Germany

Hamm Railway - Embankment Monitoring CLIENT: DEUTSCHE BAHN / DB NETZ AG Rapid response monitoring of slope failure to safeguard German railway Challenge

Solution Senceive provided an emergency track monitoring kit which could be deployed in a few hours if required. This comprised 34 triaxial tilt sensors capable of detecting movement of less than a millimetre, with a cellular gateway. For the main investigation, a 3 km length of embankment was monitored using a total of 233 stake-mounted triaxial tilt nodes, arranged in two offset rows at approx. 25 m intervals. A FlatMesh™ camera was also deployed to provide around-the- clock photographic images of the defective area. The camera was set up to be automatically triggered in the event of significant ground movement. The wireless sensors communicated with seven solar powered gateways, which transmitted data securely to the WebMonitor online visualisation software. This was accessible to all registered users.

Outcome During a period of harsh winter conditions, up to 9 mm of movement was detected by multiple sensor nodes in the at-risk area during a one-week period, before returning back to the baseline. The FlatMesh™ camera images could easily be accessed remotely and clearly showed that the area experienced heavy snow during this time, which indicates that the movement was caused by extreme variations in temperature causing the ground to contract/expand. This precise data and accompanying visuals supported the view that the fissure, and the original movement that caused it, was caused by changes in soil moisture due to de-vegetation of the adjacent field. This was exacerbated by seasonal changes such as the cold winter conditions. The exceptional battery life of the nodes, of 12 to 15 years, offers the flexibility for the monitoring duration to be extended to further investigate the seasonal impact on the slope movement. The emergency track bed monitoring kit remained on hand in case of further slope failure that might affect the railway.

The Dortmund to Münster railway line is one of Germany’s strategic rail routes. In late 2018 a major fissure appeared along a 100 m stretch of embankment, which ran parallel to the track. This raised concern about the risk of further ground movement and a decision was made to install an emergency monitoring system to mitigate the risk of damage to the railway. Senceive remote monitoring technology has been proven in rail applications around the world. Railway infrastructure owner Deutsche Bahn chose to install a Senceive FlatMesh™ system to monitor the at-risk area following treatment of the fissured ground. This smart wireless system can be easily deployed in a matter of hours and allows stakeholders to see the relationship between slope and track.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Monitoring bridge movement, France Triaxial Tilt Sensor Nodes used alongside Track Prisms for optical survey.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Australia

Toowoomba Second Range Crossing - Safety, Reliability and Flexibility CLIENT: POSITION PARTNERS / NEXUS DELIVERY (Ferrovial Agroman – Acciona) How a flexible wireless monitoring solution was used to check integrity of railway track during Queensland highway construction works

Challenge The Toowoomba Second Range Crossing (TSRC) was the largest Australian Government funding commitment to a single road project in Queensland’s history ($1.6 billion – 43 km). One of the main engineering elements of the project was an 800 m bridge constructed to negotiate the steep terrain of the range and carry the new road over the Brisbane-Toowoomba Railway. In order to safeguard the railway during the construction programme, the construction team chose to use Senceive wireless remote condition monitoring technology to detect movement of the track and associated railway assets. The initial phase of monitoring coincided with early earthworks, piling and blasting activity. This involved the rapid relocation of the monitoring system to different areas of the valley as works progressed.

Solution The initial monitoring area was located directly under the bridge path. A total of 42 wireless tilt nodes were positioned on the sleepers of the two train lines, measuring cant and twist (3 m and 9 m) at a 30 minute reporting rate. A further 21 tilt nodes were deployed to monitor the embankment, the retaining wall and multiple boulders on the side of the valley in order to identify any potentially dangerous movement towards the tracks. After several months, the first phase of work was finished and the system was moved several hundred metres south to monitor a blasting cut. A total of 58 nodes were relocated and reconfigured in just a few hours to monitor a longer section of track with different specifications (5 m spacing and a swap of fixings).

Outcome In addition to providing highly reliable readings (resolution of 0.001° and repeatability of ±0.003°) which helped keep the public and site workers safe, Senceive was able to provide the TSRC project with a bespoke system that could be quickly and easily adapted. This was thanks to innovations including: • solar powered gateway • 3G gateway connected to international cellular network • 12 -15 years battery life • interchangeable bracketry • remotely upgradeable firmware. The easy to install FlatMesh TM system saved on cost/time and eliminated the need for maintenance. The monitoring contract was fulfilled by Senceive’s regional distributor Position Partners.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Earthworks failure, UK Landslides are more frequent due to climate change; intelligent monitoring solutions can provide early warning to reduce danger and disruption.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

United Kingdom

Earthworks Monitoring: St Leonards CLIENT: NETWORK RAIL/COSTAIN

How long-term wireless condition monitoring was installed rapidly on steep cutting slope to reduce risk of disruption and accidents

Challenge In 2016 rail operator Network Rail (NR) had become concerned about the risk of landslips affecting the railway at a site near Hastings in southern England. A decision was made to remove vegetation from a 40 m length of the cutting above the track in order to stabilise and monitor it. As well as detecting physical movement of the slope, Network Rail wanted photographic imaging of the track, so that any potential hazard could be seen by operational staff and assessed quickly and without needing to visit site. Contractor Costain approached Senceive to provide FlatMesh high-precision tilt sensors. They specified a short lead-in time and a rapid installation as the issue was seen as high priority. They wanted the monitoring installed quickly and to remain in place for a period of years.

Solution The robust and stable sensors were fixed to stakes embedded in the de-vegetated slope on a grid pattern. The system comprised a solar-powered 3G gateway and 20 wireless FlatMesh™ tilt nodes. Once the groundworks were complete, the nodes were deployed using stakes and customised mounting plates. The solar 3G gateway was then quickly and easily installed on a nearby post to transmit the data from the nodes to the WebMonitor software. A solar-powered FlatMesh™ wireless camera was also installed to detect objects of football-sized and bigger encroaching on the track, day or night. As well as sending regular images of the track, this remotely configurable camera could be triggered to capture a picture in the event of a movement threshold being exceeded by any of the nodes.

Outcome Precise and stable data information was visible to the client via easy-to-use software. Other data such as rainfall information were considered and manual surveys were conducted on an occasional basis. The automated approach, including remote imaging, enabled targeted intervention with a big reduction in site visits. Following the monitoring installation, Costain and NR earthworks engineers were confident that the system was providing the insight needed to identify significant slippage and make safety-related decisions in a timely, reliable and cost-effective manner.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

Tunnel upgrade, Spain Installing Optical Displacement Sensors to monitor convergence during engineering works.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

United Kingdom

Box Tunnel Electrification - Structural Monitoring CLIENT: AECOM / NETWORK RAIL How a wireless monitoring solution supported major structural changes to a historic rail tunnel as part of Great Western Main Line electrification

Solution Conventional systems were considered impractical due to obstructed lines of sight, absence of power supply, long installation times and risk of damage. Monitoring experts at AECOM chose to use a Senceive solution to provide near real-time data relating to tunnel distortion that was wireless and did not need AC power. The AECOM team installed 250 Senceive tilt sensor nodes on a FlatMesh™ platform – providing sufficient coverage to monitor the full length of the tunnel. Data was collected through internal battery powered gateways and sent to users inside and outside the tunnel every 20 minutes to help verify predicted structural movements throughout the works. Additional innovations were made to allow for automatic switch-over to backup gateways in the event of damage or failure.

Challenge Network Rail’s Great Western Mainline electrification project started in 2014 to improve capacity and reliability. The route passes through the 3 km Box Tunnel, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and completed in 1841. It was bored through four distinct strata and two fault zones and comprises 2 km of brick lined, 350 m of unlined and 450 m of brick arch construction. In order to achieve clearance for overhead line installation in 2015, there was a need to lower the track by 350 mm. To safeguard the integrity of the tunnel and minimize disruption to train operations there was a need to monitor and control movement. The challenge was to implement an economical, resilient and precise monitoring solution within a fully operational and congested construction site over the full length of the tunnel. Due to the live network, the system had to be wireless and mains power free.

Outcome The FlatMesh™ wireless solution met the very challenging requirements of this site, providing a solution where there was really no viable alternative. The system was delivered and installed in extremely tight timescales, necessitated by the fixed date of the line closure for the works. Additionally, safety was enhanced through the fast and simple installation. As the system was entirely wireless and AC power free, it was swiftly decommissioned at the end of the project, and the sensors reused, minimizing waste, environmental impact, and whole life cost.

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

United Kingdom

Monitoring Assets Affected by London Power Grid Tunnelling CLIENT: COSTAIN / BT TUNNELS

How wireless remote monitoring helped to safeguard critical assets affected by tunnelling activity and supported efficient progress of tunnel boring machines

Challenge In February 2011 National Grid embarked on a seven- year project to upgrade London’s electricity grid. This involved construction of a series of tunnels to house 400kV power cables, boosting capacity and access to renewable energy. Main contractor Costain was responsible for the civil engineering work. Tunnel routes connected Willesden in the west to Kensal Green and Hackney in the east. A north-south route extended from Kensal Green to Wimbledon. Two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) were used to build the 32 km of tunnels. Costain was also responsible for monitoring assets along the route that may have been affected by the tunnelling. They used Senceive technology at several sites where there was concern about the risk of settlement affecting critical assets, including British Telecom (BT) communications tunnels, the River Thames embankment wall and London Underground railway tunnels.

Solution Costain engineers worked closely with Senceive experts to devise appropriate and cost-effective solutions. In Camden, for example, a series of interconnected aluminum beams, each with a high-precision dual axis tilt sensor measured longitudinal settlement along a 100 m section of BT tunnel. With no wires, the installation was quick and easy. The movement sensors were connected via a gateway and BT’s own lines. Stakeholders could see and interact with the feed of monitoring data which was updated four times an hour. At the Thames embankment site, tilt nodes were installed on beams on the river side of the wall. Data was relayed wirelessly to the WebMonitor cloud server via solar-powered GPRS gateway.

Outcome Each of these projects lasted several months and was effective in reassuring owners of third-party assets that movement levels were generally well within acceptable tolerances. As a result, a number of other sites affected by the London Power Tunnels project chose to use Senceive technology to safeguard at-risk infrastructure.

KEY POINTS

• Complex tunnelling operations took place in close proximity to other critical infrastructure • Wireless monitoring solutions were quick to deploy and adapted to work in varying conditions above and below ground • Monitoring data reassured asset owners and allowed tunnelling to go ahead with confidence

Harnessing intelligent monitoring technology to keep people and infrastructure safe

“I think the system has a lot of advantages over traditional monitoring setups because it is more flexible and gives live reporting.”

Filipe Guerreiro Survey Manager, Veris

Contact our team if you want to find out how wireless remote monitoring can make your rail project safer and more efficient.

https://www.senceive.com/contact

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