Thursday 20 February 2020

Wireless Condition Monitoring Solutions for Retaining/Sea Walls and Props



Retaining and Sea walls are designed to resist large lateral pressures, by their nature they are inherently unstable without regular inspection and maintenance. At some point these lateral pressures will overcome the wall stability and the need will arise for condition based monitoring to be implemented.

Whether the wall is gravity, piled, cantilevered or anchored, its stability has been designed assuming specific parameters which often change over time. Surcharge behind the wall, ground water pressures, ageing of the structure itself, even extreme weather conditions all play a significant part to the structural stability.

Often a regime of regular visual inspection and manual monitoring is required to provide the assurance necessary to confirm the structural stability. Manual inspection/monitoring costs and associated logistics over time can be considerable, especially if there is restricted access to the structure.

If a simple condition based monitoring regime can be deployed quickly and provide accurate rotational and transverse (sliding) movement data, stability can be readily inferred and ongoing inspection costs can be considerably reduced.


Senceive’s wireless condition monitoring solutions can offer industry leading wireless triaxial tiltmeters which can provide high precision rotational data about a structure, combined with highly accurate Optical Displacement Sensors (ODS), rotational and displacement trends to a repeatability of +/-0.0005° and +/-0.15 mm respectively can be obtained 24/7 without further attendance after installation. All of Senceive’s condition based monitoring is wireless and can be run without external power or cabling.

PRODUCTS

 • Triaxial Tilt Sensor Range
 • Optical Displacement Sensor (ODS)
 • Sensor Interface Range 
    o Crack Sensor Node (single/dual port)
    o Vibrating Wire Interface (single/4-port)
    o IPI Interface Hub
    o Milli Volt per Volt Node

WHAT WE MEASURE

 • Strain
 • Tilt
 • Cracks
 • Load

Props for Retaining and Shoring Structures

Using Senceive's Millivolt and Vibrating Wire interface nodes with our FlatMesh® platform, you can incorporate a range of third-party sensors alongside our own nodes and see all of your data in one place. This means you can monitor the load directly (and indirectly) on props and the deflection profile of retaining structures simultaneously. The system also allows you to set trigger levels, if these are breached SMS and email notifications are sent to the appropriate person.

Want to know more about our condition monitoring solutions? Click below to read one of our case studies:

Royal College of Music, UK: Prop Monitoring


Auckland Harbour, NZ: Sea Wall Monitoring


Dover, UK: Sea Wall & Costal Rail Monitoring 











Thursday 9 January 2020

The Future of Rail Safety: Q&A with Darran Streeton at Senceive Ltd

Why is there a desperate need to improve health and safety procedures in the rail industry?

Every employer wants their staff and contractors to make it home safe, every day. To ensure this happens, there are stringent Health & Safety protocols in place that must be followed during the planning and execution of any type of work. Nevertheless, near misses, accidents and fatalities still occur and even one of these is one too many. If there is any process that can be implemented in order to reduce any kind of incident, it should be explored and always considered or implemented as an alternative to putting ‘boots on ballast’.

What are the main safety challenges for railway workers as well as for railway companies?

The primary concern for all stakeholders involved with the execution of works on the rail network is to keep everyone safe. The railway infrastructure can be a daunting and confusing environment to work in and around at times and this applies as much to those new to the industry and those who have worked within the sector for multiple years.

There are a number of safety challenges to overcome, such as complacency, the fear of speaking up in front of a group to changes in the weather and the physical infrastructure. The most important things anyone working on the rail infrastructure can do is ensure they get a briefing, understand the briefing, take 5 and consider their surroundings and speak up if they haven’t understood a briefing or instruction and to notify the relevant parties if they see something that appears unsafe.

What are the risks facing rail companies should a worker be harmed during work?

Rail companies implement rigorous health and safety procedures in order to protect both their workforce and themselves - and at a great financial cost. Theoretically, if the processes are followed throughout, there should be minimal to no risk, but things can and do go wrong.

Companies can be faced with huge time consuming investigations that could result in costly court proceedings, financial payouts or fines and negative publicity. It can take years to build up trust and a good reputation, and companies want to maintain that as much as they can - not only for public perception but for tender consideration and winning business.

How can safety be improved by taking a proactive approach towards it?

A proactive approach is critical to enhancing safety in the rail industry. There are over 10,000 miles of railway track in the UK, and with the unpredictability of nature, anything can happen at any time. Whether problems arise from fallen trees, landslips or extreme temperature changes, there is potential for something to go wrong.

In the areas that are at highest risk, we need to be proactive. For example, wirelessly monitoring movement on rail lines, as well as the embankments around them using tilt sensors, can be used to predict the onset - or actuality - of landslip failure before it happens. As a result, rail lines can be closed before any trains come anywhere near them. Remedial works can be carried out and not a single person is put at risk in the process. 

A key example of this occurred back in February - when a landslip fell on the Bexleyheath line near Barnehurst. On-site wireless tilt measurement sensors, supplied by Senceive Ltd, detected the slip at 3:30am on Monday February 11th and alerted a rail surveying and monitoring engineer. This allowed the staff on the ground to act quickly and close the line, preventing any potential danger to the public.

How can technology be implemented to increase safety?

Technology is continuing to evolve and new forms of automation are being implemented throughout rail. It’s not about replacing people with technology, it’s about keeping the workforce, public and passengers safe alongside the implementation of fail-safe systems. If the use of technology can be used to reduce workers physically being on site the less risk there will be.

In the last 20 years alone we’ve broken so much ground with technological innovation, and one particular development - the Internet of Things (IOT) - has allowed us to create near real-time wireless monitoring of train lines, embankments, OLEs and more with immense precision.

Today, we can place wireless tilt sensor nodes and other wireless sensors in and around rail infrastructure, connected to create a wireless mesh network. For example; a number of tilt sensor nodes communicate to create a mesh of information that can measure with precision to within a hundredth of a millimeter. This kind of data is impossible to recreate manually, and these systems can last up to 15 years without having to change batteries, eliminating the requirement for ongoing maintenance. Operating 24/7 in the harsh rail environment and in remote locations, they offer the ability to report data every few seconds. It allows workers to predict potential problems along rail lines, meaning they can close lines before anyone is at risk of danger.

Why and how are intelligent monitoring solutions revolutionising the rail industry through IoT to enhance health and safety?

IoT is the basis for any wireless remote monitoring solution and is pivotal to its success. We’ve witnessed some incredible technological innovation in recent years, and we are now able to take measurements, such as changes in cant, twist, rail temperature, settlement and more, wirelessly and automatically without the need for wired power and communications and without having to step on or near the line. Measurements can be transmitted using low frequency radio signal to communication hubs or gateways, with data then sent through cellular networks to the cloud for data review and visualisation software on any smart phone, tablet or PC.

Intelligent monitoring solutions can give an asset owner an insight into the behavior of a particular asset through monitoring trends over time. In the event movements occur, measurement frequencies can automatically increase once certain trigger levels have been breached, and can trigger cameras to take photos of the environment, helping to predict failure and make observations of the environment remotely.

In addition, measurement frequencies can be increased manually, if required, all remotely through the internet. All of these factors give an end user confidence and reduce the requirement to send personnel out into an environment that is potentially dangerous and difficult to access.
Network Rail has launched a worker safety task force but is that enough to tackle the safety problems?

Network Rail has launched a worker safety task force but is that enough to tackle the safety problems?

Network Rail already does so much regarding safety, and the protocols and procedures for working on the network are in-depth and very concise. Launching a dedicated worker safety team will only help to bolster an already stringent system, it is without a doubt a step in the right direction and should be applauded.

No matter what industry, there are always accidents and negligence, but to have a team of dedicated people whose sole focus is worker safety is refreshing to hear and can only lead to good and positive outcomes. With regards to automation, there is often a short-term cost implication to be considered, but also a significant cost reduction over the long-term. Automation can assist in the reduction of accidents and fatalities, so if rail companies are truly dedicated to reducing these, can we really put a price on automation?

More Information on Senceive’s Triaxial Tilt Sensor Range

Flexible, reliable and robust. Senceive's triaxial wireless tilt sensor range offers a resolution of 0.0001° (0.0018mm/m) and repeatability of ±0.0005° (±0.009mm/m). With a battery life of up to 15 years and an extremely durable and waterproof enclosure. It truly is best-in-class and an ideal choice for the challenging Rail and Construction environment.

The wide range of mounting options mean the triaxial tilt sensor is perfect for wireless Remote Condition Monitoring across a wide range of applications in even the most hazardous environments.

Want to know more about our triaxial tilt sensor? Visit: www.senceive.com



Wireless Condition Monitoring Solutions for Retaining/Sea Walls and Props

Retaining and Sea walls are designed to resist large lateral pressures, by their nature they are inherently unstable without regula...