Feature sponsored by Test & measurement


WIRELESS TELEMETRY SOLUTIONS FOR PROTECTING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS


Construction projects near rivers are challenging for many reasons. Firstly, excavation can destabilise riverbanks and, secondly, excessive vibrations from machinery can threaten the integrity of existing structures. Contractors need a way of measuring the forces on a structure to prevent the foundations from cracking. A partnership between test and measurement equipment distributor Hydrotechnik and wireless remote monitoring specialist Mantracourt resulted in an innovative pressure monitoring system for hydraulic rams supporting building foundations against the forces of the River Thames.


tides, Thames’ water levels can rise by more than two metres putting extra pressure on the foundations of riverbank buildings. Nottingham-based Hydrotechnik has supplied some of the UK’s biggest names in construction, including JCB and Terex Construction, with equipment for taking pressure readings. Its reliable and cost-effective sensor solutions led a contractor working in London to approach Hydrotechnik with a query. It needed to wirelessly monitor and log pressures in a hydraulic ram’s cylinders to renovate a new shopping centre safely and successfully near the Thames riverbank. The challenge was that the hydraulic rams


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had already been installed in the foundations for support and hydraulic pressures were always increasing at high tides, applying more force to the structure’s walls. Teams of specialists would have to manually screw pressure gauges onto the hydraulic ports just to take pressure


he Thames is vulnerable to tidal surges generated in the Atlantic, which are funnelled into the English Channel and up the Thames Estuary. When surges coincide with high


readings. Often, these ports are found in areas underwater, so manual testing was not practical or cost-effective. It also could not be carried out frequently enough to spot any threats to the structural integrity. “In the construction industry in particular,


manual monitoring of hydraulic pressures can be risky,” explains Richard Price, managing director and founder of Hydrotechnik. “The inspection valves are often placed in difficult- to-reach areas and human error can cause bleeds in the hydraulic system, which then causes uncontrolled unloads. This is why companies are starting to adopt a sensor- based approach to monitoring hydraulic pressures. But they too have their limitations. “Yes, it’s true that sensor-based monitoring


provides a safer alternative to manual testing. However, there is still the issue of laying down cables and powering devices with limited grid infrastructure. On a building site, where many workers are present operating heavy machinery, installing electrical cables is neither cost-effective nor safe - power on- site is limited for this reason. Sensors also require periodical maintenance inspections, which will stop construction and delay project completion.” The team at Hydrotechnik hatched a plan to integrate wireless telemetry transmitters onto the pressure sensors on the hydraulic rams, so that pressure readings could be taken in real-time, 24/7. The data would be transmitted to a base station and monitored using a PC-based data logging software. “Installing this technology onto any site has its challenges, but this is particularly true for construction,” Price explains. “On-site, you have variable weather conditions and there are often moving vehicles and bulky building materials that could block the transmission of data. In some


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cases, whole new buildings will be erected, which will make it difficult for signals to penetrate. Therefore, the devices chosen needed to be able to transmit data over a large area, be weather- resistant and durable to withstand vibrations made by heavy machinery.” Hydrotechnik has been market-leading in the sale of temperature and pressure flow test kits for some time. So, when customers started looking to do all of this wirelessly, the company sought help from wireless test and measurement equipment specialist, Mantracourt. “Because Mantracourt operates in parallel


worlds to us, we did have some reservations going into the partnership. Mantracourt’s industry experience is in strain gauge and weighing, whereas we cover pressures in pipes, linear movement and vibration monitoring,” says Price. “However, our reservations were premature, and we quickly discovered the relationship to be of mutual benefit. We worked closely with a team of electronics engineers to marry up what we do well - hydraulic monitoring - with what Mantracourt has been doing well with wireless telemetry electronic devices.” Exeter-based Mantracourt Electronics designs and manufactures signal conditioning equipment and sensor systems, specialising in wireless telemetry and cloud-based remote monitoring. The instrumentation sold for the Thames project was packaged under Hydrotechnik’s Watchlog Wireless branding. The Watchlog system comprises of ten bridge- based pressure sensors, each bolted to a standard IP67-rated T24 transmitter enclosure,” explains Tom Lilly, application engineer at Mantracourt. “Signals from these sensors are wirelessly transmitted up to 800 metres to an optional solar powered wireless range extender, which will then send the data to the base station


September 2022 Instrumentation Monthly


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