Building and Structure Monitoring
Structure operational safety. Building monitoring
An important component of a new concept for modern construction technologies is the application of gaging equipment for monitoring of structures during construction and in course of further operation. Special attention should be paid to the problems of the underlying rocks and soil stability and control of structure operational safety.
The rocks on which the building or engineering structure foundation leans and the geological environment in which construction pits, tunnels, underground storages, mounting bases of the building, etc. are placed do not represent a congealed, stable formation. With time rocks and soils shift, their qualities change; under the impact of external factors they loose their initial strength properties but at the same time influence the building foundation that in a number of cases results in irreversible, disastrous changes of its condition.
The most effective tool for evaluation of the building stability and control of the dynamics of negative (emergency) conditions generation and development is the transducers recording the slightest changes in the conditions of the controlled object.
The systems of transducers are combined into the united system of data acquisition, and the primary data from them come to the uniform monitoring and processing center.
Monitoring System
A set of technical aids assigned for measurement and registration of various parameters including accumulation and processing of incoming data constitutes a monitoring system which is unique for each specific object.
Ideally from the standpoint of modern approaches to structure safety issues and new concept of construction technologies the monitoring system should be developed at the projecting phase and created during the object construction. When the matter concerns newly built objects, residential complexes, tall buildings which construction is coming to the end, buildings and structures that require overhaul, elimination of foundation deformations or its shoring, it is necessary to begin development of the monitoring system from survey of the current state of rocks under the object, evaluation of engineering-geological qualities of underground space, investigation of possible geological, technological and technical causes of deformation generation.
Besides permanent monitoring of a building or an engineering structure the monitoring system can and should generate emergency notification signal if one or several parameters that are controlled exceed safety level.
Installation of such systems will allow to avoid tragic consequences of disasters similar to destruction of "Transvaal-Park" and possibly will prevent preparation for act of terrorism at the object.
The partner of GPIKO Ltd. in development of monitoring systems for residential complexes, office and production buildings, tunnels, trenches and engineering structures is the SISGEO company (Italy). SISGEO is an universally recognized leader in development and manufacturing of instruments for monitoring of mining and geological conditions at construction objects and the state of buildings and structures in course of their operation.
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