Introduction
In the building industry, it is often necessary to closely monitor the impact of work-in-progress on neighboring structures. Excavations and soil handling can pose a risk to the stability and structural integrity of adjacent buildings, which is why building monitoring system is crucial.
Requirements
This case study focuses on the construction of a tourist complex in Switzerland. It is important to note that this construction area involved the development of luxury apartments in an area known for its beautiful landscape and environmental appeal, but also prone to landslides. Given the proximity of existing buildings, it was crucial to prioritize the security of these structures. Our client required a comprehensive monitoring system capable of assessing soil stability and detecting potential landslide risks throughout the entire construction area. This required remote access to measurement data and reliable alarm transmission via email or SMS.
Proposal
The plant needs the use of geotechnical sensors connected to a data logging device able to do acquisition, storage, and send alarms. Moreover, to measure the deformation and movements of the soil, we needed some inclinometers and solenoids. In addition, during some critical work phases, vibration level has been monitored too.
All sensors have been connected to the data acquisition system, in this case, Next Industries’ NI2400 data logger. This device, which today is being used in different applications, was developed at the beginning for geotechnical ones and has characteristics particularly suitable for the application under consideration, including:
- High accuracy of measurements;
- High reliability; modern and high quality electronic, circuits tropicalisation process to suit them to outdoor installations, rugged metal case, inputs protection with discharge tubes big storage capacity; internal non-volatile 2GB memory;
- Different communication possibilities: RS-232, RS-485, Ethernet, radio-modem GSM/GPRS computing power (32-bit microcontroller), long battery life in battery mode function thanks to adopted circuits.
NI2400 data logger can supply sensors directly. This feature was fundamental for this application and is often not available on other devices.
As far as it concerns data transmission, collected data were sent in regular intervals to an FTP server through a GSM/GPRS modem. On the project’s website, these data were automatically calculated and presented in chart form.
CSV data transfer
In this kind of application, customers usually want to monitor data and analyze them with their software. Through an FTP connection and with the modem NI2400 can send data in CSV format to a server.
Conclusions
In conclusion, building monitoring project’s results are positive. The system has turned out to be efficient and reliable. Works could go on without any obstacle, meanwhile security of other existing buildings and citizenry has been guaranteed.