Title: 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.