Crossrail - the largest infrastructure project currently under construction in Europe - will run for 42kilometers underneath London, and is being developed underneath an existing enormous network of underground tunnels. To ensure that construction of the new tunnels will not affect the existing infrastructure, Engineers from the University of Cambridge have developed a new ground-breaking monitoring technology, providing them with real time data regarding the tunnel's deformation and shape changes! Watch the video below for more information!
Upon completion, Crossrail is expected to accommodate around 200 million passengers each year and will run about 25 meters below the surface. The tunnels' diameter ranges between 6 - 11 meters and according to Professor Robert Mair, Head of Civil Engineering and of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at the University of Cambridge, "the most important challenge is how you excavate large tunnels underneath urban infrastructure without causing any distress to buildings or other tunnels". Many of the existing underground tunnels were built during Victorian times and are already more than 100 years old. If damage occurs in one of these underground structures, it could have catastrophic affects on the surface as well.
Crossrail Construction Company has already installed and uses high end sensing technologies, including monitors, in its effort to eliminate the damage possibility to existing structures. In parallel, the new sensing technology developed by CSIC is being applied in a 30m long section of the Royal Mail tunnel, beneath Liverpool Street Station, located a few meters above the excavation of one of Crossrail's new stations. The CSIC technology is based on fiber optic cables that measure ring deformation and shape changes as well as displacement sensors to monitor relative ring movement. Additionally, special targets are combined with camera technology to take pictures of the tunnel, capturing even the slightest change in the tunnel's shape. Among the advantages of the CSIC monitoring method are its low cost and easy installation as well as its low energy consumption. The sensing system can also provide a complete picture of the tunnel, rather that partial information at selected monitored points.
Watch the video below for more information!
Sources: BBC, CambridgeUniversity, Crossrail
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