TACKLING A “PERFECT STORM” OF
MONITORING CHALLENGES
Remote tunnel monitoring leads to a sophisticated solution designed
with safety, quality and reliability in mind
A
s the railway infrastructure in
Great Britain ages, it is being
stretched to cope with more and
more use. Degradation of this
infrastructure was particularly evident
during restoration work on and around
the 19th century Gasworks Tunnel in cen-
tral London. Less than a third of a mile
(500m) from the King’s Cross railway
station, this tunnel has two operational
bores that carry the East Coast Main Line
and a third non-operational bore.
TBM: TUNNEL BUSINESS MAGAZINE April 2021
In August 2019, the Central Rail Systems
Alliance began excavating more than 24
million pounds of material from the tun-
nel’s closed eastern bore in preparation for
reopening it as part of a master plan to ease
pressure on the rail traffic in and out of
King’s Cross.
Responsible for undertaking the monitor-
ing work during the 12-month project was
Amey Consulting and Andrew Plumb,
Amey’s Head of Monitoring and Senior
Technology and Innovation Manager.
22
MULTIPLE CHALLENGES CREATED
THE “PERFECT STORM”
Understanding how much a tunnel moves,
particularly in an older asset where less is known
about how it will react to construction work,
presented an immediate set of challenges:
• Gaining a clear picture of how tunnels
move naturally, particularly those built
more than 150 years ago, and having a
limited understanding of what external fac-
tors could cause it to move further.
• How to measure a tunnel to an appropri-
ate level of accuracy to provide confidence
when developing risk models.
• How to transmit data automatically to
stakeholders for real-time insight into tun-
nel movements and behavior.
• How to classify thresholds for movement
and what escalation procedures would be
needed.
• How to carry out the process remotely in
real-time without the need for a work crew
to be inside the tunnel.
• How to overcome dusty, noisy conditions
with low visibility and heavy equipment us-
age, no natural light and no phone signal.
An additional challenge came from an active
third-party construction site with piling and
excavation taking place directly above the eastern
bore. This created several conditions that limited
the number of systems capable of recording move-
ment data in absolute form, at regular intervals,
day and night, and without requiring a work crew
on site in order to maximize safety.
MONITORING SYSTEM
CONSIDERATIONS
Following a 3D Finite Element Analysis (FEA)
conducted by Amey Consulting, it was decided
that trigger levels should be set for movements
of the tunnel in accordance with its results:
green (just over inch or less than 4mm), yellow
tunnelingonline.com
 150 toughened glass prisms placed in arrays
throughout the tunnel alongside a network of
reference prisms to coordinate all movement to
data control points.
Collected monitoring data was processed
automatically in the T4D software, which Amey
Consulting also used to display results, output
operational and management reports, and to
manage alerts, alarms, web access and email no-
tifications. This enabled multiple stakeholders to
gain access to historic and live data in real-time,
understand trends and most importantly, see
the effect of construction activity on the tunnel.
Data was also extracted into Amey Consulting’s
own geotechnical software.

SAFETY AS A TOP PRIORITY

Plumb reported that the total stations were
functioning well, achieving millimeter accu-
racy. Data was recorded every 15 minutes, 24/7
providing valuable insights into tunnel behavior,
above and beyond anything they could have
learned by monitoring in a traditional (or manu-
al) way. The system proved to be a cost-effective
The total station approach proved to be the most feasible as it provides yet sophisticated high-end solution, measuring
reliable 3D data on tunnel movement and can be programmed data reliably and robustly, and providing reas-
to take measurements every few minutes. surance for the site personnel that the tunnel
was reacting in a manner that was within safe
engineering tolerances.
(between ⅛ - ¼ inch or 4 - 7mm) and red (above nications connection. An OctoHub was used to By installing this innovative automated moni-
¼ inch or 7mm). connect the M1 to a modem via fiber optic cable toring system, Amey Consulting removed all
Two systems were presented by Amey Con- rather than the usual internal M1 SIM card. “boots on ballast” during the construction phase
sulting to Network Rail, one based on tilt sensors This provided a fast, robust and efficient data of the project. Elevating project safety to this
and one on a total station approach. The total transfer to a 4G gateway at the south portal and level and being able to keep work crews out of
station approach proved to be the most feasible in turn to the internet and Trimble 4D Control the tunnel during construction, the asset owner,
as it provides reliable 3D data on tunnel move- (T4D) monitoring software. Network Rail, was assured the tunnel as a whole
ment and can be programmed to take measure- Inside the tunnel, the total stations were (eastern, central and western bores) was structur-
ments every few minutes. positioned and installed by KOREC along with ally sound and safe for the travelling public.
Needing fast procurement of a reliable system
that would be backed up by dedicated technical
support and advice, Plumb approached KO-
REC’s monitoring specialists who confirmed his
team’s assessment. Working together, a Trimble
monitoring system was selected and installed.

INSTALLATION SPECIFICATIONS
KOREC, a Trimble distributor for the UK
and Ireland, recommended using five high-accu-
racy Trimble S5 Ti-M monitoring total stations
with communications supported by five Trimble
Settop M1s placed in reinforced cabinets. M1s
are robust Trimble communication hubs that
combine the functionality of a field computer,
device server, router and remote switch, stream-
lining the number of components needed for this
monitoring task. However, because there was no
phone signal in the tunnel, Plumb designed and Collected monitoring data was processed automatically in the T4D software.
specified an alternative method for the commu-

tunnelingonline.com 23 TBM: TUNNEL BUSINESS MAGAZINE April 2021