Innovative monitoring technologies for underground infrastructure

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges facing civil engineers in the 21st century is the stewardship of civil engineering infrastructure. Nowhere is this more apparent than in underground structures in the major cities around the world. Advances in the development of fibre optics, computer vision, miniature micro-electro-mechanical sensors (MEMS) and wireless sensor network (WSN) offer intriguing possibilities that can radically alter the paradigms underlying existing methods of condition assessment and monitoring of such infrastructure. This paper discusses potentials of these technologies for monitoring underground infrastructure.