Proof of Concept of Wireless TERS Monitoring

Abstract: Temporary earth retaining structures (TERS) help prevent collapse during construction excavation. To ensure that these structures are operating within design specifications, load forces on supports must be monitored. Current monitoring approaches are expensive, sparse, off-line, and thus difficult to integrate into predictive models. This work aims to show that wirelessly connected battery powered sensors are feasible, practical, and have similar accuracy to existing sensor systems. We present the design and validation of ReStructure, an end-to-end prototype wireless sensor network for collection, communication, and aggregation of strain data. ReStructure was validated through a six months deployment on a real-life excavation site with all but one node producing valid and accurate strain measurements at higher frequency than existing ones. These results and the lessons learnt provide the basis for future widespread wireless TERS monitoring that increase measurement density and integrate closely with predictive models to provide timely alerts of damage or potential failure.