Selecting and Installing the

Right Instrument

A. J. (Tony) Simmonds (B.Sc. Hons., M. ASCE) Dr. Aksan Kawanda & Dennis Rio Perdana
Geokon | Lebanon | USA | www.geokon.com Geotech Efathama | www.geotech-indonesia.com
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Instrumentation in Reforming Project to IR 4.0 | Geotech Efathama | Holiday Inn Kemayoran, Jakarta Utara | 20.02.2020
Technology is a useful servant,
but dangerous master
-Christian Lous Lange-
Today Topics
Reasons for Installing
01 Instrument

02 Choosing Instrumentation
Application & Suitable
03 Instrument

Pros & Cons Over Contractual

04 Arrangement
01 Reasons For Installing Instrument

Site Investigation

Legal Protection

Design Verification

Safety
Why?

Construction Control

Every instrument on a project should be

selected and place to assist with answering
a specific question: if there is no question,
Performance Quality Control there should be no instrumentation –
Dunnicliff
02 Selecting Instrument
Ground and Environmental Condition
Soil Type and weather take effect for choosing
Parameter Required
Critical parameter and
complementary parameter
Instrument Quality
Reliability, rugged, etc. Personnel and Human
instrument Resource
Skill of Technician to install,
maintain, and read
Data Acquisition
Periodically, Real time
Instrument Life and
Performance
Temporary, Long-term, Data
accuracy, precision, etc.
 • Long Term Monitoring
• Allows trends to be detected recalibration in systematic manner | correct for any drift
• track changes in mechanical state of the
structure
• Often sensors installed permanently
• inaccessible locations
• cannot be replaced (or re-calibrated)
• Therefore critical that sensors used are
• reliable
• and do not drift over time
What is a vibrating wire sensor?

1. Mechanical assembly
2. Electromagnetic excitation
3. Measurement System
How does it work?
A short pulse of current
Passes through electromagnetic coil
- near midpoint of wire
Sets the wire into transverse vibration
How does it give a reading?
– Wire oscillates in
magnetic field of
electromagnetic coil
– Creates a small current
• Amplitude drops as
oscillation dampens
– Travels to the readout
• At the gage frequency
– Pulse counter measures
time for “x” pulses
(cycles)
Same coil is used to excite and detect the
frequency of the vibrating wire
– Microprocessor
• T (period for one cycle)
• 1/T = frequency
Attributes of vibrating wire sensors

• Long term stability

• Signal transmission over long cables
– cables easily spliced
• Robustness
Long term stability
“Some Facts about Long-Term Reliability of Vibrating Wire Instruments”
Bordes & DeBreuille

Symposium on Reliability of
Geotechnical Instrumentation NRC
| TRB | January 1985
Signal transmisson over long cables
Cables easily spliced…
Robust
Parameter Required
(Vibrating wire sensor types)

Strain gages Displacement

transducers

Pressure
Tiltmeters
transducers

Temperature Force
sensors transducers
Strain gages

- Steel, concrete (HT), fibreglass (HS), soil

- Load cells, instrumented rebars & rockbolts

Pressure transducers

- Piezometers (HT) (HP)

- Pressure cells
- Load cells
- Settlement systems
Displacement transducers

- Crackmeters (concrete, masonry)

- Jointmeters (mass concrete, bridge decks)
- Borehole extensometers
Inclination sensors (tiltmeters)
Instrument Cable

Mounting Flange

0.875"
(22 mm)
1.125"
(29 mm)
Thermistor

Housing

Wire

Electromagnetic Coil

5.25"
(133 mm)

Elastic Hinge

1.25" O.D.
(32 mm)

Seal Screw
Damping Fluid
(optional)
Force transducers

- Crackmeters (concrete, masonry)

- Precision liquid level sensors (0.07mm)
- Multipoint settlement systems
Temperature Sensors
 Basic Parameter to Measure
Vertical Deformation

01 1. Foundation performance
2. Settlement and consolidation
Lateral Deformation
1. Slope stability
2. Deep excavation
02
Pore water pressure

03 1. Consolidation
2. Hydrostatic and excess water pressure
P
Force & Stresses
1. Lateral & Vertical earth pressure
2. Load transfer
3. Any support force / stresses
04
05 Temperature
Vertical
Deformation

Settlement Extensometer LVDT

Plate
 Horizontal
Deformation

Inclinometer Extensometer Tiltmeter

Pore Water
Pressure

Vibrating Wire Pneumatic Standpipe

Piezometer Piezometer Piezometer
Development of Piezometer
Standpipe Pneumatic Vibrating wire
1. Good for excess 1. Good for excess
1. Cheap 2. High accuracy
2. Relatively easy to 2. Low accuracy
3. Long reading time 3. Fast reading time
install 4. Relatively high price
3. Good for water level
4. Not good for excess
pore water
 Forces & Stresses

Vibrating Wire Fiber optic Load Cell Stress Cell

Strain Gauge
 Temperature

Analog/Digital Vibrating Wire Fiber Optic

Thermometer Thermistor Thermistor
 Slope Stability

Real Application on
Various
Geotechnical Work
Inclinometer
 Slope Stability Deep Excavation

Real Application on
Various
Geotechnical Work
 Reading of Pressure Cell
220
200
180
160
140 Raft
Pressure
(kPa)

120 Foundation
100
80 1B-13
60
Construction Period
40 1C-13
20
0
7-Oct-16 26-Nov-16 15-Jan-17 6-Mar-17 25-Apr-17 14-Jun-17 3-Aug-17 22-Sep-17 11-Nov-17 31-Dec-17 19-Feb-18 10-Apr-18 30-May-18 19-Jul-18 7-Sep-18
 Reading Result
Jack Out Pressure Cell
Pressure (kPa)
-100.00 -75.00 -50.00 -25.00 0.00 25.00 50.00 75.00 100.00
11
10
9 G.L
8
7
6
G.A

Elevation (m)
5
4
3
G.A
2
1
0
G.A
-1
-2
-3
G.A
-4
-5
-6 Bottom basement
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12
 Slope Stability Deep Excavation

Embankment

Real Application on
Various
Geotechnical Work
 Reading Result
WATER LEVEL
0.00

-2.00 WSP-01
GLOBAL ELEVATION

-4.00 WSP-02

-6.00
WSP-03
(M)

-8.00
WSP-04
-10.00

-12.00 WSP-05

-14.00
WSP-06
-16.00
9-Sep 16-Sep 23-Sep 30-Sep 7-Oct 14-Oct 21-Oct 28-Oct 4-Nov 11-Nov 18-Nov 25-Nov 2-Dec 9-Dec 16-Dec 23-Dec 30-Dec

DATE
 Reading Result
600
500
Timggi Timbunan

Timbunan
400
(m)

300
200
100
0
05-Aug-18 04-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 03-Nov-18

80
72
64
Water Pressure

56
P-1 Elev. -6.34m
48
(kPa)

40
P-2 Elev. -10.84m
32
24
P-3 Elev. -13.84m
16
8
0
05-Aug-18 04-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 03-Nov-18
DATE (2018)
 Slope Stability Deep Excavation

Embankment Pile Testing

Real Application on
Various
Geotechnical Work
Instrumented Lateral Load
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
16.14
15.64
15.14
14.64
14.14
13.64
13.14
12.64
12.14
11.64
11.14
10.64
10.14
9.64
9.14
8.64
8.14
7.64
7.14
6.64
6.14
5.64
5.14
4.64
4.14
3.64
3.14
2.64
2.14
1.64
1.14
0.64
0.14
-0.36
-0.86
-1.36
-1.86
-2.36
-2.86
-3.36
-3.86
-4.36
-4.86
-5.36
-5.86
-6.36
-6.86
-7.36
-7.86
-8.36
-8.86
-9.36
-9.86
-10.36
-10.86
 1776
1628 296 592 888 1184 1332 1480

1480
1332
1184
APPLIED LOAD (TON)

1036
888
740
592
444
296
148
0
0 -3 -6 -9 -12 -15 -18 -21 -24 -27 -30 -33
VWSGs IN ELEVATION (m)

AVERAGE LOAD TRANSFER CURVES

 0

1 Cycle 1

Cycle 2
2
Elastic Shortenning (mm)

Cycle 3
3
Cycle 4 ΔL
4

8
ΔL
9

10
0 147.5 295 442.5 590 737.5 885 1032.5 1180

LOADS (TON)
 Slope Stability Deep Excavation

Embankment Pile Testing

Real Application on Tunneling

Various
Geotechnical Work
Another Case Histories - Worldwide

• Dam
– TK Dam, Rhodopes Mountains, Bulgaria | 2006-2011
• Bridge
– Star City Bridge, PA., USA | 2003-2004
• Tunnel
– Red Line Tunnel, Boston, Ma., USA | 1999
• Highway
– A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland | 2009-2010
TK Dam, Bulgaria
Double curved arch concrete | 130.5m Height | 480m Crest
TK Dam, Bulgaria
300 Instruments • 30 VW Strain gages
• 20 Pressure cells
• 66 VW Jointmeters
• 18 MPBX (3 pt)
• 20 VW Piezometers
• 12 Pendulum systems
• 6 VW Seepage weirs
• 1 Weather station
• 1 Seismic station
• Data Acquisition System
200 installed during construction
TK Dam, Bulgaria

connected to dataq system with data visualization over internet

Star City Bridge, WV, USA
306m over 4 spans| light weight concrete deck on steel girders
Star City Bridge, WV, USA
• 200 VW Strain gages
– Steel
• 105 VW Strain gages
– Concrete
• 42 VW Inst. rebars
• 56 VW Crackmeters
• 2 VW Displacement
• 439 Thermistors
– Temperature
• Data acquisition
– 6 Dataloggers
– 20 min scan interval
850 Instruments
Red Line Tunnel, Boston, USA
Immersed tube tunnel overlying existing Red Line Subway
Red Line Tunnel, Boston, USA
Red Line Tunnel, Boston, USA
Red Line Tunnel, Boston, USA

• 700 VW Strain gages

– & VW crackmeters
• 125 VW LL Systems
– 1310m span
• Data acquisition system
Red Line Tunnel, Boston, USA
A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland
Geogrid stabilization of highway over area suspect to sinkholes
A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland
30,604 Instruments
Monitoring period = 30 years
• 2,541 VW Extensometers
• 12,706 VW Displacement
• 25 VW Settlement Cells
• 30 VW Inst. Rebars
• 15,247 Thermistors
• Temperature
• Data acquisition system
• 310 Dataloggers
A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland
A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland
A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland
A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland
A1 Highway, Silesia, Poland

Sink Hole

Anchor points Wire Extensometers

 04 Various Contractual Agreement
Installation by Owner
Owner buy, install,
monitor, maintenance
Instrument Specialist
Contract With Owner
Bid Item in Prime Contract,
With No Prequalification
Instrument Specialist
Contract With Contractor
Bid Item in Prime Contract,
With Prequalification
 Installation by Owner

Advantages
Flexible to accommodate
changes
Owner has direct control Cannot always be financed
over the cost by construction funds

Potential problems with Assumes owner has

contractor if instrumentation necessary in-house skills.
work interferes with other work

Owner must plan for work Limitation

load well in advanced
 Bid Item in Prime Contract, With No Prequalification

Advantages
Least effort required to write
specifications

Initial cost will tend to be least Financed by construction

funds
Requires strong experienced Generally contractor will shop for lowest
supervision by owner’s price subcontractor, with risk of lowest
representative quality and invalid measurement data.

Not flexible to
accommodate changes

Limitation
 Bid Item in Prime Contract, With Prequalification

Advantages

Small specification writing effort

Initial cost will tend to be low

Excludes inexperienced
instrumentation subcontractors Financed by construction funds
Usually requires strong and experienced
Generally contractor will shop for
supervision by owner’s representative
lowest price “qualified”
subcontractor with risk of Not Flexible to accommodate
subcontractor having inadequate changes
price, cutting corners, and thus
invalid measurement data

Often difficult substantiate to reject

questionably qualified subcontractor
Limitation
 Instrument Specialist Contract With Owner

Advantages
Owner has direct control
over cost and quality

Instrumentation specialist can, if

retained early enough, assist with Flexible to accommodate changes
design of monitoring program

Cannot always be financed by

Potential problems with construction funds
contractor cooperation if
instrumentation work interferes
with other works
Limitation
 Instrument Specialist Contract With Contractor

Advantages
In selecting the specialist, owner has
some control over cost and quality

Flexible to accommodate changes Facilitates cooperation and

scheduling with contractor
Assumes “professionalism” on part
of instrumentation specialist, who Financed by construction funds
has negotiated with the owner but
contracted with the contractor

Not permitted under some

public agency regulations
Limitation
 THE END,
Any Question ???

“One correct test result is worth a thousand expert opinions”

Werner Von Braun
Father of the Saturn V rocket

Aksan KAWANDA

0811.851.613 aksan.Geotech@gmail.com aksankawanda